Clouded Sky
by Negrek
Summary: The truths upon which Tobias's life was founded are shattered, leaving him stranded in a strange, dangerous world. Soon he can no longer tell whether his enemy lies in the ones who hunt him or within himself. After all, evil is in the eye of the beholder.
1. Doubts and Dreams

Disclaimer (applies to entire 'fic): I, most unfortunately, do not own Pokemon. Alas. But I do lay claim to any and all Pokemon, characters, regions, etc. of my own creation.

Rating: Rated PG for violence, blood and gore associated with Pokemon battles.

Cover: Fanart drawn for me by Pathos. At the time that I'm writing this, FFN is stripping links out of stories, so I've put a link to more of his work on my profile instead.

Author's Notes: As promised, here is my second fanfic. I spent a great deal of time agonizing over whether or not to add a prologue to this one; in the end I decided that the one that I had planned was too short and rather boring. Nothing particularly important was revealed in it, and so I shall begin with Chapter One instead.

This 'fic does indeed take place in a new region, known as Waytar. I think that you'll find it to be very different from the familiar Johto, Kanto, Hoenn, and even Orre regions previously explored. With that said, enjoy (and review!)

**Chapter One: Doubts and Dreams**

Tobias Talltree was not guide material. At least, that's what he was convinced of as he stared at himself critically in the small mirror. His green eyes looked back at him in an expression of uncertainty and confusion, not the cool collectedness of a true pokémon guide. His normally unruly red hair had been combed into some semblance of order as was befitting of the important day, but it seemed to Tobias that it only emphasized his unworthiness, making him look like a poor country yokel dressed up in a suit for a fancy upper-class gathering.

Which is what he was, of course. His calloused hands, the skin covering them the odd yellowish hue characteristic of the people of Waytar, were the mark of a life of physical labor, not being waited upon hand and foot by servants. Of course, that would be an asset for a guide, who would live a rough and rugged life on the road. But Tobias had never been outside the boundaries of the pitiful little community of Firstseed, as unaccompanied to adventure as a Torkoal to swimming. He hadn't taken any fancy pokémon courses at the local school, being barely being able to go at all, as he was almost always needed on the farm.

His family was poor; they couldn't afford the fancy garb that most guides favored, the finely made attire that made his serviceable, homemade clothes seem pitifully crude. It was lucky that guides were provided with the essentials of their trade before setting off; his parents would never have been able to afford the profession otherwise. As it was, they could only give him the handcrafted guide's belt that hung around his waist and a meager 200 Pk.

Still, today he would be embarking upon the quest of a lifetime, undertaking a journey that only a privileged few ever enjoyed. He should be thankful, not reluctant. Tobias put the mirror down, turning away from the dresser with a sigh. The room that he shared with his two younger brothers was empty, Kevin and Mark having gone out to help pick the early Aguav berries that were beginning to appear out in the orchard. He had already said his goodbyes. There was no reason to linger.

He left the small farmhouse, emerging into a beautiful late spring day. The sky was cheery blue-gray from horizon to horizon, not a cloud to be seen anywhere in its pristine heights. Tobias's mother was already out working in the orchard with the rest of the family, carefully collecting the valuable berries that were just beginning to ripen. She waved to him as she saw him leaving the yard and called out, "Don't forget to write, honey!"

"Don't worry, mom!" Tobias called back over his shoulder, taking what he knew to be his last look at her for a very long time. There was sadness in her green eyes, but also a great joy. She knew that her son was being given an opportunity that she had never been and that he had a chance to make a name for himself.

Once away from his house Tobias began to pick up speed, excitement beginning to flood his veins. He was soon running down the empty dirt road that connected the scattered farms of Firstseed to one another. He had plenty of time before he needed to be at Madam Truealder's home, but anticipation and excitement goaded him to run ever faster.

The scattered farms gave way at last to small shops, several roads converging to form the town square, the heart of Firstseed. It was still early morning, and the town showed few signs of life. Few guides ever ventured into this secluded, out-of-the way farming community that did not even boast a temple. It was, however, the home of Madam Truealder, a well-respected master guide who instructed the local children in basic guiding courses and sent the selected few who were chosen to become guides on their journey. Her home was a long, low building set back from the street, one of the largest buildings in the entire town. The door stood ajar, welcoming the new set of guides that would begin their journey today.

Tobias ducked hastily inside and ran down the hall, already knowing his destination as he dashed around the corner and into a large room. It was dim and mysterious in the interior of the room, which was lit by candles and filled with the pungent scent of burning incense. Nearest the door were arrayed six other youngsters, seated crossed-legged on the floor. Tobias' heart sank as he saw that he was the last to arrive of the seven students chosen to be guides. This was surprising, considering the fact that he was still early.

He hurried to have a seat and turned his attention to the woman standing in the middle of the room. She wore the dark blue robes of a master guide, her piercing green eyes boring into Tobias's. Green eyes were a trademark aspect of Waytar's inhabitants, long isolation slowly removing variations from the gene pool to leave the stereotypical Waytaran: green eyes, red hair, and oddly yellowish skin. Of course, they knew no other way for people to look, and those rare few who looked differently were regarded with deep suspicion and malice.

"As it appears that we are now all here, we may begin the ritual," Madam Truealder intoned in an important voice. The other future guides around Tobias shifted eagerly. "Before we begin, allow me to remind you of why we are here and the responsibility that you are about to take on," she continued, eyes raking across her antsy audience. "You seven have been selected to become pokémon guides. You alone, out of all of your classmates, showed the potential and the predisposition to continue this long-standing and prestigious tradition that is the core of our society. The life of a guide is not easy. You will not be coddled, for the land beyond your small town is wild and often hostile. Many of you will fail in your duties, never realizing the potential of yourself or your pokémon. Do not allow that to happen. Your honor, and the honor of your pokémon, depends upon it."

The future guides smiled smugly, excited. Tobias did the same, although he felt a small twinge of guilt. The other children in the town that were his age would likely grow up to be like his parents, poor farmers struggling just to perpetuate their existence, all because no favorable omen had emerged that pointed to a future in pokémon guiding. Still, he was one of the _chosen_.

"Yes, it is a grand adventure upon which you are about to embark," Madam Truealder announced. "All pokémon have the potential for greatness. It is up to you, their guide, to help them to find it. You will train together, grow together. Only together may you achieve your destinies and fulfill your duty as a guide. Now," her voice became businesslike, "you must be given your first pokémon. As the first pokémon is usually the one that a guide forms the closest bond with, it is important that one be selected that will reflect your personality and qualities. It is also believed that the starter pokémon received by a guide is an omen, prophesizing the success of their quest. Therefore, Zialfor will look into your heart and select for you a starter."

Zialfor was her Alakazam. He sat cross-legged next to his guide, eyes closed in meditation. Behind Madam Truealder and Zialfor were huge shelves lined with long, cylindrical objects. There were nearly two hundred of them; one each of every basic Pokemon found in Waytar (and, therefore, the entire world).

"Guides will be given their pokémon according to their order of arrival. That means that we will begin with you, miss Barkdown. Come forward, Chelsea."

One of the girls stood up proudly, flipping her hair out of her face scornfully. She stepped up Madam Truealder, who proceeded to administer the guide's oath. "Do you, Chelsea Barkdown, solemnly swear to abide by the laws governing the care and handling of pokémon and to aid your pokémon in achieving their full potential?"

"I do," replied Chelsea. Madam Truealder presented her with a heavy Tauros-leather-bound tome.

"You will need this," explained Madam Truealder. "It will instruct you in the ways of a guide and contains all of the information that you will require to successfully complete your quest. Now, if you will just step in front of Zialfor…"

Chelsea did so. Tobias could tell that, despite her haughty demeanor, she was a little daunted by the powerful pokémon. At first nothing seemed to happen, and then Chelsea gasped and shook her head vigorously. A second later, one of the long objects on a shelf behind Madam Truealder glowed blue and began to slowly rise from its resting place and drift over to the girl.

She had recovered sufficiently to pluck it out of the air, at which point the blue glow vanished. Chelsea turned the object over her hands in wonderment. It was somewhat like a large wind chime, made of bronze and carved with numerous mysterious runes and insignias. It had a ring at one end from which to hang or be held.

"Let's see what it is," Madam Truealder implored. Tobias could tell that this was her favorite part of the entire ritual.

Tentatively, Chelsea grasped the chime by the ring and held it out before her. "Appear, pokémon," she commanded, and rang the chime. It gave a clear, high-pitched note. An odd cloud of whitish smoke exuded from the end of it, drifting down towards the floor and coalescing into the form of a magnificent bird. Rather than feathers, it was covered with feathery leaves of a radiant emerald. Its stomach and face were covered by crimson petals, and although it was only about a foot long, it had a magnificent sweeping tail of nearly five feet. It opened its dainty beak and let out a series of gushing notes, alighting upon the floor.

A gasp of awe and jealousy rose from the onlookers, and Chelsea appeared to not believe her eyes. "Queztlak," observed Madam Truealder. "It represents beauty and grace. Congratulations, Chelsea Barkdown. You are now a pokémon guide." Chelsea reverently rang the chime again and the magnificent grass- and flying-type dissolved into smoky vapor once again before being withdrawn into the chime.

_Beauty, grace, and _vanity, Tobias thought to himself. _Queztlak is really rare. I hope I get a rare pokémon like that._

Next up was Don Summerblossom (a name that had forced him to endure no end of torment at school). He went through the whole process as well, receiving his own mysterious chime.

The pokémon that appeared when he rang it was a familiar red doglike pokémon. Tobias smiled when he saw it, thinking of the pair of growlithe, Sharp and Hector, that his family kept to herd their mareep. He didn't really know Don that well, but had always received the impression that he was a rather meek person, which made the selection unusual. "Growlithe. Interesting," remarked Madam Truealder. "Growlithe represents loyalty of courage. Congratulations, Don Summerblossom, you are now a pokémon guide."

Marcus Deepriver was next. To no one's surprise, his chime was found to contain a water-type. A small blue pokémon that appeared to be a miniature sea serpent materialized before him. It had a pair of feathery yellow antennae extending from its head and a pair of vestigial flippers sprouting from its sinuous body. It looked up at Marcus with a mischievous grin. "Blubble," Madam Truealder remarked. "Mischief and a sunny disposition. Congratulations, Marcus Deepriver, you are now a pokémon guide."

"Ah, a guide after my own heart," Madam Truealder exclaimed as the next pokémon appeared. "Abra, symbolizing wisdom and patience. Congraulation, Mary Moonflower (another unfortunate name), you are now a pokémon guide."

Next up was Damien Darksand, who received a creature that appeared to be no more than a spectral ball of fire with eyes. It hovered a little off the ground, looking up at him. "Whispo," reported Madam Truealder, "an interesting starter, indeed. Whispo represents a pure spirit and an affinity for the supernatural. Congratulations, Damien Darksand, you are now a pokémon guide.

Tobias was simply bursting with excitement as he watched the final girl, Laura Starwind receive her starter. It turned out to be leaflet, a diminutive pokémon whose entire body was swathed with leaves. Its only distinguishable features were a pair of large, frightened eyes and two branchlike arms. Madam Truealder announced that it represented "timidity and a generous heart."

At last, it was Tobias's turn. He stood up with apprehension and dutifully took the guide's oath. With that completed, Madam Truealder shoved a massive book into his arms. Tobias looked down to see that it had his name stamped onto the cover. He then walked over to stand in front of Zialfor.

The Alakazam didn't appear to notice his presence, but Tobias suddenly found himself gripped by a powerful mind. It seemed as though his consciousness and inner feelings were being turned inside out and shaken thoroughly, and something infinitely wise was watching with interest what fell out of his mental pockets. Then the feeling passed and Tobias found himself once again staring at the immobile Alakazam. One of the chimes was glowing and slowly making its way towards him. He eagerly reached out and took it out of the air. Turning it over in his hands, he admired the carefully intertwined symbols that crawled across it. He then remembered that his fellow guides were waiting for him to release his pokémon so they could head off on their journey.

"Show yourself, pokémon!" he called eagerly as he rang the chime. The pokémon that materialized from the mist that drifted out of the chime was not at all what he had expected and, from the horrified noises coming from his fellow guides, it was not what they had expected either.


	2. An Ill Omen

Author's Notes: In this chapter, it is stated that there are only sixteen pokémon types. This is true in Waytar, where there are no steel-type pokémon.

**Chapter Two: An Ill Omen**

"Kroooowwww!" croaked the scraggly black bird, turning its red eyes upon Tobias. It was a murkrow, one of the most maligned species of pokémon in Waytar. Murkrow were widely feared as evil omens, as it was said that seeing one flying in the night would bring bad luck. Tobias was surprised, in a detached sort of way, that Madam Truealder even kept one around in the off-chance that a guide might ever be deemed horrible enough to be awarded one.

"Mur-Murkrow," stammered Madam Truealder in surprise. She made a discreet sign to ward off evil and cast a surreptitious glance at Zialfor, who remained as inscrutable as ever, apparently oblivious to the turmoil that his choice was causing. The master guide was in turmoil, apparently not sure what she should tell Tobias. Apparently, she decided on the truth, as she announced, "It is an ill omen. It represents greed, cruelty and deceit. Con-congratulations, Tobias Talltree, you are now a pokémon guide."

It didn't have the ring of real congratulations. Tobias's peers stared at him. The murkrow, hearing the phrase "pokémon guide" and realizing that it was meeting its guide for the first time, squawked happily, opening its unkempt wings and flapping heavily over to alight on his shoulder. Tobias, still in shock, instinctively raised a hand to try to ward it off. Thinking this was some sort of human game, the bird bit him amiably on the finger. Tobias yelped and came to himself with a jolt of pain. "Return, Murkrow," he commanded, ringing his chime commandingly. The crow, wearing a consternated look on its face, dissolved and was returned to the chime. Tobias hurriedly returned to his seat, trying to ignore the eyes on him.

Madam Truealder was working to regain he composure and finish the ritual. "I have prepared a basic travelers' pack for each of you," she explained. "It contains all basic items that should be carried by a guide and will aid you in your early journey. Some of you may wish to buy extra equipment, but this should be sufficient for most of you. Zialfor, if you would?"

The Alakazam gave no sign that he had heard, but seven backpacks floated up from a pile in a dark corner and hovered over to the guides, one landing before each with a heavy thud. They were fine backpacks, made to last and waterproofed. Each had a bedroll strapped to the bottom and a canteen to the side that sloshed as the pack thumped to the floor, indicating that it had already been filled. Tobias reached over to take his as it made a less-than-graceful landing in front of him. It was heavy, but nothing that he couldn't handle.

"It is time for you to take your future into your own hands," Madam Truealder intoned. "Be off with you." The seven guides scrambled to their feet, hoisting the packs onto their backs, some with muffled groans. They filed out of the room, not speaking, each lost in his or her own thoughts. The world outside Madam Truealder's home seemed entirely different and new. Now it belonged to each of them, and them alone. Marcus gave a happy whoop, and the rest laughed appreciatively. "Where're you going, Marcus?" Laura asked him, somewhat shyly.

"Oh, to Salt Bay," he replied casually. "That's where the water temple is, and I've always wanted to visit it. And my blubble should feel right at home there." Most of the guides, still unsure of themselves, remained in a tight knot outside of Madam Truealder's house, making small talk and standing around dumbly. Only Damien seemed to really have a purpose in mind, leaving the group and heading west without a backward glance. No one seemed to want to talk to Tobias or even acknowledge his existence, but he didn't feel comfortable leaving just yet, so he hung around on the fringes of the group, listening.

"I'll battle you, Marcus," offered Don uncertainly.

"Sure," Marcus replied with a grin. The other guides backed away eagerly, clearing an appropriate area for battling. "Let's do this, Blubble," Marcus commanded, ringing his chime enthusiastically. His blue serpent appeared and, sizing up Don, hissed excitedly.

Don called out his growlithe, which snarled at the small water snake. "Let's start this off with bite, Growlithe," Don commanded, and the puppy pokémon dashed forward to obey, teeth bared.

"Use wrap, Blubble," encouraged Marcus, and his snake slithered forward. It darted away from the growlithe's snapping jaws and wound its body between the red dog's legs, tripping him and sending him sprawling. Blubble tightened its hold as the growlithe struggled to rise, sinuous body cutting off circulation.

"Get him off of you, Growlithe!" cried Don, his pokémon already carrying out the order. Growlithe grabbed the snake's body in his powerful jaws and tugged hard, giving the Blubble the choice of letting go or being pulled apart. It relaxed its hold and the puppy pokémon tore it from his body, teeth sinking in to its scaly blue hide as he tossed it to one side.

"Come on, Blubble! Don't quit now," encouraged Marcus as the bloodied snake tried to rise. It finally did, coiling itself up into a fighting position. The growlithe circled warily. "Good job! Use tail whip." The snake darted forward and lashed the puppy across the muzzle with his thin tail. The growlithe yelped and jumped back, startled. Blubble took advantage of his opponent's lapse to dart forward and coil himself about Growlithe again, constricting with all of his might.

"Finish this, Growlithe," commanded Don. "One last good bite!" His growlithe complied, grabbing the snake by its midsection and biting down hard, blood welling from between his teeth. The blubble released its hold and Growlithe tossed it away again. This time, it did not get up.

"Return, Blubble," Marcus sighed, ringing his chime. The defeated serpent was returned to safety, and Marcus grudgingly handed over half of his money. "That Growlithe's not bad," he admitted to Don, who grinned.

"Good job, Growlithe," he told his new Pokemon, who responded with an excited bark and a wag of his tail. At this point Tobias drifted away, heading north and out into the grassy plains beyond Firstseed's limits.

Here were low, rolling hills swathed in tall grass that rippled in the wind. Tobias thought moodily to himself as he waded through it. Why hadn't he gotten a pokémon like Don's growlithe? It was such an energetic, loyal pokémon. Was he really so bad that he deserved a murkrow as a starter? Tobias sighed and sat down on one hillside to consider his course of action. His chime was still clutched in his right hand. He relaxed his grip and hooked it onto his belt, then opened his pack to have a look at what he had been given.

Inside he found a packed lunch for himself as well as several bags of herbs. There was flint and a tinderbox as well, and two more bronze bells. These Tobias transferred to his belt along with the one belonging to Murkrow, empty though they were. A compass nestled near the bottom of the pack, the only navigational instrument provided. That was apparently it, besides the canteen and bedroll, and his guidebook, of course. Tobias frowned. He would definitely need more food if he planned on traveling to anywhere more than a day's journey from Firstseed.

Unfortunately, the town itself didn't provide much of an opportunity if he wanted to stock up on anything but trail rations, not having any notable shops dedicated to selling items that would be useful to a guide. Tobias resolved to head for the next town to the west, a small village known as Tamato Town. This was where his father sent some of the more pokémon-related products produced on their farm, such as the healing berries. From what he'd been told, there was even a small pokémon center there where he could rest before setting out to on his quest in earnest. Mind made up, he moved on to his guidebook.

Setting the pack aside, Tobias opened the huge leather-bound tome that had been presented to him during the ritual. Just inside the cover was a comprehensive map of Waytar that folded out. Tobias did so, looking at it critically. Though it showed the whole of Waytar, from the northern Cragtop Mountains down to Salt Bay City in the south, Firstseed wasn't even marked. Tobias knew that Firstseed was just to the southwest of the Larvari Plains, though, the edge of which he was reclining on now. The map showed that on the other side was the nearest major town, a bustling center known as Rareview. Here, too, was the Fire Temple, a location that Tobias was most definitely interested in.

There were fourteen pokémon temples scattered across the world, each specializing in a certain one of the sixteen pokémon types. Ghost- and dark-types did not have temples dedicated to them, being considered dangerous and evil groups of pokémon. Any guide who wished to gain certification as a master would first have to conquer all fourteen before moving on to the next level of challenge, which would require them to compete against other master guides in order to determine their rank in the system.

Tobias refolded the map, determined to head out to Rareview and the Fire Temple first. He flipped farther into the massive book, skimming over its contents. It contained a staggering amount of information. Most of the front section was dedicated to the basics of the art of guiding, such as the administration of herbs to heal a pokémon and how to deal with the different status afflictions that they could fall victim to. There was also a large section on basic survival skills, and one describing the exploits of various famous master guides. Finally, he came to the section that he had really been looking for.

It featured information on every known pokémon, of which there were over three hundred. Tobias didn't know where murkrow would fall among them, so he flipped to the very back of the book, where it held an impressive index. Looking up murkrow, Tobias located its entry and flipped back to it.

The page was decorated with a large black-and-white charcoal drawing of a murkrow looking decidedly devious. Murkrow's name and number were written in fancy script at the top, and its information was below the picture. Tobias read this with interest, wanting to know as much about his starter as possible.

_Murkrow, the Darkness Pokémon. Types: Flying and Dark_

_Murkrow are the bearers of ill luck and misfortune. They are scavengers, typically congregating in large flocks, or "murders." Such groups will often take over a section of forest and drive out larger birds of prey, such as pidgeot, which may attack their chicks. Murkrow are fascinated by bright objects, which they obsessively hoard. They live an unusually long time for bird pokémon, usually over forty years in the wild and sometimes as many as sixty when guided._

Not terribly helpful in the area of caring for a murkrow of your own, unfortunately. Tobias sighed and reached down to his belt, taking hold of the chime currently housing his murkrow. He unhooked it and held it up in front of him, contemplating. He didn't like the thought of keeping the poor pokémon cooped up inside of it all the time. On the other hand, he didn't know that he would enjoy its company all that much, either. It was his starter pokémon, though, and whether he liked it or not, he should do his best to get to know it.

"Come on out, Murkrow," Tobias commanded, ringing the chime. The mist that poured from it took the shape of the small black bird, who gave Tobias a reproachful look and cackled irritably. It hadn't appreciated its abrupt dismissal back at Madam Truealder's. It turned its back to Tobias, sharp eyes scanning the waving grass, looking out for something interesting or edible.

"Murkrow," Tobias mused. "I can't keep calling you that. It's just silly. You need a real name." The bird croaked in agreement. Tobias sized up the murkrow. It looked to him as though it was a male. "You're male, right?" he asked it.

The murkrow swiveled its head around to give him an exasperated stare, adding an angry "Krow!" to express its displeasure that Tobias hadn't easily been able to tell this by himself.

"Right. Okay, then. How about…Midnight?" he asked, at a loss.

"Mur! Krowow!" Murkrow replied, rolling his eyes vehemently.

"No? Then how's…Eclipse?" Tobias didn't really know where that one had come from, and apparently neither did his murkrow. It just gave him a puzzled stare. "Oh, wait! I know!" Tobias gasped, inspiration striking him suddenly. "What about Jinx?"

"Murrr! Murrr krow!" the bird replied excitedly, flapping his wings and bobbing his head.

Well, it certainly does seem appropriate, Tobias admitted to himself. To Jinx he said, "I'm going to head out to the next town over and then set off for Rareview. Do you want to go back into your chime?" Jinx shook his head. Tobias shrugged and returned the chime to the belt at his waist and slid his thick book into his pack. He stood up once more, slinging the pack onto his back. Jinx lifted himself clumsily off of the ground, flapping up to Tobias's shoulder. Tobias winced as the Murkrow's sharp claws dug into his skin.

Jinx didn't seem overly pleased with this perch. The strange feathers that covered the human's head appeared much more comfortable. He climbed onto the Tobias's head, ignoring the exclamation that the boy uttered in response and made himself comfortable, settling himself down and taking a look around from his new vantage point, satisfied.

Tobias was considerably surprised when Jinx suddenly decided to move onto his head. The bird's weight was uncomfortable, and he was afraid to make any sudden movements lest he dislodge the pokémon, which would undoubtedly make Jinx try to dig his claws into Tobias's head to gain better purchase. There wasn't really any point in trying to talk the bird out of it, though, Tobias figured, and he couldn't very well just wait around here all day. Tamato Town might be the closest settlement to Firstseed, but it was probably at least three hours away.

Tobias set out, using the sun to guide him in the right direction. He wouldn't need the compass except for cloudy days, being able to navigate quite easily by looking to the sun and the land. The new guide soon found that it was not particularly thrilling to slog through long grass for several hours, and the newness of his situation soon began to tarnish a bit. The low hills were boring to look upon, the landscape monotonous and unchanging.

The grass over to Tobias's right rippled, disturbed by something moving unseen through its blades. The new guide froze and Jinx left off nibbling at his hair, red eyes glaring keenly towards the ripple. It came again, approaching the human and his pokémon. At last, a small brown bird darted out from the stalks, eyeing the pair with small, bright eyes. It stood on two stout legs, body covered by shaggy brown feathers. It was flightless, its tiny wings barely visible where they were folded along its side. Its most notable feature, however, was its beak, which was very long and thin. "Kiwik!" the pokémon chirped. "Kiwik! Kiwik!"

Jinx left Tobias's head in a clatter of untidy pinions, landing before his guide and cawing harshly at the other bird. Tobias eagerly reached into his pack for the book. Pulling it out, he found kiwik in the index, then opened to its entry.

_Kiwik, the Long Beak Pokémon. Types: Flying and Normal_

Not something that Tobias wanted to capture, then. He was interested in collecting a variety of types, which he had been repeatedly advised would aid him in conquering the fourteen temples, and he already had a flyer. He read on anyway, interested.

_Kiwik and its evolved form, kiwak, are flightless pokémon. They have poor eyesight but a very keen sense of smell. These pokémon feed on earthworms, using their long beaks to pierce the earth and root out their food. They tend to be solitary, living in burrows in the ground._

"Alright, Jinx, you can take this worm-eater," Tobias encouraged. "Attack! Use… Er…" What was murkrow's basic attack again?

Jinx was watching his guide expectantly, awaiting his orders patiently. The kiwik, however, was not one to let the disparaging worm comment to slide.

"Kiiiiiwik!" it bellowed in its shrill voice, charging straight at Jinx. The murkrow realized that he wasn't going to be getting any help from his guide, who was muttering attack names to himself, sweating as he desperately wracked his brain, searching frantically for the right one. Jinx took matters into his own wings, darting to the side and bringing his crooked beak down on the barreling kiwik as it roared past, drawing blood and a squeal from his opponent.

"Oh, right! Of course!" Tobias cried, realizing his mistake. "You know peck. All right, peck it again. No… Wait, what are you doing?"

Jinx was now completely ignoring his inept guide. He cawed raucously, spreading his wings and rattling his tail feathers tauntingly. The kiwik, partially blinded and enraged by the blood trickling into her left eye from the gash that the murkrow had opened above it, squeaked angrily and recovered. She charged again. This time, Jinx jumped, pumping his wings once to propel himself over his small opponent and lashed out at her back. His attack hit home once again, but the kiwik reacted faster this time, bringing her mad dash to a grinding halt and wheeling around suddenly, lashing out with her long beak. It whistled through the air just before Jinx's chest feathers.

He tried to lunge forward for another attack, but she jabbed wildly at him with her long beak, warding him off. Her wounds were paining her, however, and her strength and tenacity were beginning to flag. She finally mustered her strength for one last tackle attack, dashing forward with her beak straight out before her like a lance. Jinx sidestepped neatly and clouted her a final time, finally taking her out of action.

Jinx strutted about proudly, his head bobbing up and down. "Good, job, Jinx," Tobias congratulated him. The kiwik recovered sufficiently to scurry back into the tall grass to nurse her wounds, and Tobias moved on.

The pair slogged through the grasslands all day, stopping for lunch before pressing onward. They saw several more pokémon, all of which Jinx defeated, growing more confident with each passing battle. Besides numerous kiwik, they had encountered several pidgey. Tobias had been on the lookout for a sentret, a normal-type that he thought would be a nice addition to his team, but they continued to elude him. Occasionally he would spot a pair of slim black ears poking up above the grass, the mark of a sentret scout. No matter how quietly Tobias tried to creep up on the pokémon, however, they always managed to hear him and escape.

For his part, Jinx seemed to be enjoying the jaunt. Though growing a bit battered from the numerous battles that he had participated in, he was still quite energetic. He would often fly off, scanning the area nearby for anything of interest, swooping down to rest on Tobias's head whenever he began to tire.

The light was just beginning to wane as Tobias finally passed the outer limits of Tamato Town. He trudged down the main road, headed for the pokémon center. It was a wide two-story building constructed in a rustic log cabin style, the bell insignia recognized by all guides displayed prominently above its double doors. Tobias entered it eagerly, looking forward to a good meal and a rest.

The interior was warm and lit by the yellowish glow of oil lamps. A long desk ran along the wall directly opposite the doors, the counter from which the center's main function was directed, that of a hospital. A plump, smiling woman in the robes of a nurse stood behind it, waiting expectantly as Tobias approached her. She didn't seem at all unfazed by the murkrow sitting contentedly on Tobias's head. He reckoned that, with her profession, she'd seen far stranger. Jinx hopped off of his head and onto the counter, staring up at the nurse quizzically.

"I'd like to have Jinx here healed, please," Tobias began, "and I'd like a room for the night and dinner as well."

The nurse nodded, picking up the murkrow and appraising him with a practiced green eye. "He's not too badly banged up. It won't take long for me to patch him up again. Why don't you have a seat at one of those tables over there and I'll bring your dinner out in a few minutes?" Tobias thanked her and went to sit down, gratefully letting his pack drop to the floor with a loud thud. He reached into it and pulled out his hefty guidebook again, figuring that he might as well get studying, inexperienced as he was.

The nurse, true to her word, soon arrived with a plate of food and Jinx, who was apparently content to ride on her shoulder. He looked bright-eyed and refreshed, and he cawed happily as he saw Tobias. The nurse set the plate down before Tobias and Jinx fluttered down to land next to it. "Just started today, dear?" she asked Tobias kindly.

"Yeah," he admitted. "I'm from Firstseed."

"Ah, yes, there'll be more of you along, then, I reckon. Always at least two that decide to head out this way," she deduced sagely. "You're off to a good start," she observed, "if you've already managed to capture a murkrow. None to common around these parts, those ones."

"Oh, no, I haven't caught any pokémon," Tobias explained. "Jinx was my starter."

The nurse's aspect changed. Her eyes narrowed and she suddenly seemed to tower over Tobias. "You got a murkrow as your starter?" she asked icily.

"Uh, yes…" he replied, surprised by the sudden change in the nurse's demeanor. She pursed her lips, looking from Jinx to Tobias calculatingly.

"Hm. Odd," she remarked finally, and reached into a pocket in the front of her robes and pulled out a key. "Your room is number three," she instructed him. "Upstairs, second door on the left." She put the key on Tobias's table then swept away, returning to her post at the desk.

Tobias ate heartily, grateful that the center provided free food and lodging to guides. He guessed that the journey across the Larvari Plains would take about five days, so he'd need to stock up before he left, and this would be his last hot meal in a while. The food was delicious, too, with a main course of hearty stew and a large roll and a glass of milk on the side. Tobias fed Jinx pieces of meat and vegetables from the stew. The murkrow, who would eat anything, devoured all that was offered and dipped his beak in Tobias's milk when the guide wasn't looking.

Tobias was beginning to feel uncomfortable again as the last light faded from the sky. He didn't like the way that the nurse had looked at him when he had confirmed that his starter was murkrow. Would people really judge him so harshly just because he had received a less-than-desirable starter pokémon? It didn't seem at all fair. Well, he wouldn't have to worry about it for much longer, at any rate. Whenever he caught another pokémon, he could pass it off as having been his starter instead. He pushed away his empty stew bowl and stood up, stretching. Jinx peered into the empty vessel in a hopeful sort of way, then fluttered up to his guide's head once more. Tobias picked up his pack and room key and headed up the center's stairs, intending to turn in early so that he would be well-rested for the long trek the next day. He unlocked his room, wondering briefly who was occupying numbers one and two, and gratefully threw himself onto the bed therein.

The room was nothing fancy, to be sure, with a small, hard bed and a nightstand with a single unlit lamp upon it, but Tobias, though newly a guide, was already beginning to appreciate such things. He lit the lamp and stretched out on the bed. Jinx fluttered up to roost on one of the bedposts, red eyes gleaming in the gloom. Tobias reached down into his pack and fished out the book. A little bit of history would be just the ticket to put him right to sleep, he thought. He opened the book to the beginning of the section and began to read.

_In the beginning, the world was much larger than it is now. There were several other peoples, and many, many more pokémon than there are today. The world was peaceful and pokémon and humans coexisted._

Tobias yawned widely. Ancient history had never much interested him.

_This all came to an end long, long ago when strange new pokémon appeared in the world. These horribly powerful creatures upset the balance between human and pokémon, destroying the harmony that existed in the world. They sought to lead pokémon to rule the world and exterminate humans. In this aim they almost succeeded, but fell soon to warring amongst themselves. The world was plunged into chaos as the elements themselves fought, mountains forcing themselves up out of the oceans and the seas rushing in to drown the land. The skies boiled with terrible storms of ice and fire and thunder, and humans could barely hang on to their existence._

Tobias's eyelids were beginning to droop.

_Then one human, a resourceful man whose name, Mayan Waytar, is now given to the world, began to fight back. He called together the scattered tatters of humanity, all of the pure-hearted and clear minded souls that he could find, and together they formed a plan. This small band escaped to one small, out-of-the way landmass newly created by the chaotic wars of earth and sea. Here he established a new colony and set about protecting it from harm. Aided by the most powerful pokémon in the land, he built a magical sphere around his chosen colony, which would protect it from the terrible wrath of the lord-pokémon. _

Tobias snored gently, his head down upon his chest. Jinx waited until he was sure that his guide was soundly asleep, then fluttered over and blew out the annoying light. He then settled down on the bedpost again, tucking his head under one coal-black wing.

Tobias shifted in his sleep, the heavy book sliding off of his chest. A weak shaft of moonlight touched the page, illuminating the next passage.

_The mighty pokémon were enraged by this insult and threw all of their might at the shield, but the strong faith of Waytar's followers was their salvation, and the shield held. Furious, the pokémon returned with even more vigor to their squabbling. In the end, however, their greed came to naught. They destroyed outer world with their terrible wars, blasting the land and exterminating human and pokémon alike. Then they, too, perished, slowly brought low by the angry earth, whose devastated bosom could give no more nourishment to them. And so, Waytar became the last haven of living creatures, a beautiful paradise of tranquility and wisdom, protected to this day by the might of its shield…_


	3. Gathering Darkness

**Chapter Three: Gathering Darkness**

Accustomed to life on a productive farm, Tobias awoke early, with the sun just barely risen. He groaned as he sat up, stretching out the kinks left in his spine from the uncomfortable mattress. Jinx was still asleep on the bedpost. As he reached over to scoop up his heavy book from where it had come to rest on the coverlet, Tobias smiled to himself as he thought of how innocent the bird looked as he slept.

The heavy thud of the guidebook sliding into Tobias's pack awoke Jinx, who withdrew his head from under his wing and blinked sleepily. He then stretched and croaked, rattling his tailfeathers and hopping off of the bedpost. He jumped neatly onto Tobias's pack as the guide lifted it off of the floor and slung it back onto his back. The murkrow crawled up onto his Tobias's head once more, and they were ready to set out.

Apparently, Tobias was no more punctual than most guides. In fact, he was startled to find the center's main area already bustling with activity. It appeared that quite a few more guides had arrived during the night. Most of them looked to be as green as Tobias, blearily spooning the lumpy oatmeal provided by the center into their mouths, their new pokémon looking on. There were one or two old hands hanging about as well, however. One older boy lurked in a shadowy corner, eating his oatmeal slowly and eyeing everyone in the room with a cool, practiced gaze. A powerful encruslen stood by his side, icy horns glittering faintly as it shifted its weight.

Tobias returned his room key at the front desk. The nurse manning it this morning was different. "I'd like some breakfast, please," he asked her politely. She nodded.

"Have a seat. Goodness knows you're not the only one." She disappeared into the kitchen, and Tobias scouted around for an empty table. He didn't really have any desire to mingle with the other guides, whom he thought might ask uncomfortable questions about Jinx. He was a bit intimidated by the crowd.

It appeared that there were no empty tables, so Tobias took a seat at one occupied only by a boy clearly unaccustomed to rising early. He must have been a new guide, as he appeared to have only one pokémon, a psyduck. The guide had unusually long hair, and it was sticking up in all directions. He had actually fallen asleep, head hanging precariously over his bowl of oatmeal. He wore glasses, indicating that he must have come from a rich family; most common people couldn't afford to pay for the delicate manipulation of glass and metal that went into their creation. They were in grave danger of sliding down his nose and landing in the murky gray mass in his bowl. His psyduck was equally unresponsive, eyes squinched shut and hands clutching its head as it leaned against the leg of the boy's chair.

Tobias sat down as quietly as possible, Jinx fluttering down to land on the table. He peered with interest at the boy opposite his new guide. The boy's spectacles had caught a ray of morning sunlight and were gleaming enticingly. Tobias didn't notice his pokémon's new preoccupation, however. The encruslen owned by the mysterious trainer in the corner had piqued his interest, and he delved into his heavy tome to learn more about it. To his surprise, it was the second-to-last pokémon listed.

_Encruslen, the permafrost pokémon. Types: Ground and Ice_

_Encruslen are rare and dangerous creatures. They inhabit only small tracts of territory in the area of Glitterpeak Mountain. The frozen hide of the encruslen is impervious to almost all physical attacks. These Pokemon are carnivorous, occasionally attacking lone travelers if food is scarce. Generally, however, they are elusive, preferring to keep to themselves and not congregating in large groups._

The illustration showed the encruslen to be a quadruped, its four stocky legs supporting a stout body. Its heavy head grew out to a bony frill, edged with short icy spines. It sported two large horns just above its small eyes, also made of ice. It had a short, stocky tail from which jutted a large icicle spike. Tobias shivered as he closed the book, eyeing the guide in the corner askance. He had come from a long way off if he had managed to catch an encruslen, and was clearly very experienced.

Jinx, seeing his guide distracted, decided to have a better look at the tantalizing objects dangling from the other human's face. His crooked beak darted out, expertly snatching the spectacles from the boy's nose. He set them down on the table and ducked his head about, admiring how the light played through the clear lenses as their owner grunted and shook his head wearily. He seemed to realize his loss quickly, putting a hand vaguely up to his face.

"Whuh…hey, give those back!" he cried as he saw Jinx toying with his glasses. Tobias's head whipped around at the commotion, and several other guides in the room looked up from their breakfasts as well. The boy was trying to pull the glasses out of Jinx's beak, but the bird was holding fast, talons digging into the table's surface.

"Oh, no… Jinx, let go!" Tobias ordered. The murkrow gave him a surprised look, then reluctantly released his hold. The other boy snatched his glasses back and set them once more on his face. He glared balefully at Jinx, only to find the murkrow staring back with equal malice. Apparently taken aback, the boy blinked.

"Is that murkrow yours?" he asked Tobias sourly as he dug his spoon into the now-congealed oatmeal before him.

The nurse bustled over and set a bowl of oatmeal down in front of Tobias, then moved on again. Tobias's face reddened embarrassedly. "Yes, he's mine. I'm sorry, I just got him yesterday." Jinx left off glaring at the owner of the glasses and sidled over to Tobias, eyeing the oatmeal eagerly.

"Keep an eye on him, would you?" the other boy asked grumpily. "I just got my Pascar yesterday, and he's been no trouble." Tobias assumed he meant the immobile psyduck. Not really knowing what to answer to this, he merely spooned some oatmeal into his mouth.

The other boy tasted the cold oatmeal, made a face, and pushed it away. He sighed and settled back in his chair, eyeing Tobias enviously. "So, where're you from?" he asked. Tobias stopped, spoon halfway to his mouth. Jinx took the opportunity to gulp down its contents, but his guide didn't notice. Was this boy actually trying to make conversation with the boy whose pokémon had just tried to take his glasses and who was clearly not as well-off as himself? The boy smiled faintly at Tobias's blank stare. "Oh, I don't blame you or anything. Most people's starter pokémon misbehave a bit. Really, I'm not that great of a trainer myself."

"Firstseed," Tobias grunted uncertainly, scraping the last of his oatmeal from his bowl.

"So, uh, would you like to battle me?" the other boy asked, seeing that Tobias had finished his breakfast. Tobias blinked. The psyduck didn't look like it had battled at all, and Jinx had fought quite a bit on the way to Tamato. The odds were in his favor.

"Sure," he replied, pushing back his chair and standing up. Jinx flapped up to his shoulder and clambered back onto his head. His new opponent stood as well, dislodging the psyduck, who made a disgruntled sort of quacking noise without opening its eyes. Tobias made his way outside, trying to ignore the numerous eyes staring at the murkrow on his head.

The center was built near a convenient grassy park, and this was where Tobias headed. After finding a nice open area, he turned to face the other boy. "Tobias," he introduced himself, sticking out his hand.

"Oh, um, my name is Mark," the other boy informed him, shaking his hand. He backed off. "Get in there, Pascal," he commanded. The psyduck waddled forward, hands still stubbornly clutching its head.

"Let's finish this quickly, Jinx," Tobias encouraged as his murkrow flapped down to take up his place opposite the semi-conscious psyduck. "Hit it with peck!"

Now that Tobias knew his attacks, Jinx was more inclined to listen to his commands. He lunged forward, crooked beak prepared to tear into his opponent. "Hit it with a scratch attack!" was Mark's countercommand. His psyduck reluctantly removed one of its hands from its head and held it out. The small claws that jutted from its webbed fingers gleamed in the early morning light.

Jinx struck first, scoring a bleeding gash along the psyduck's stomach. Pascal's scratch connected as well, hitting Jinx solidly in the head and tearing feathers from his odd "hat." Jinx squawked angrily and retaliated, this time gouging the psyduck's arm.

"Keep on scratching!" Mark yelled encouragingly. His psyduck obliged, though he was tiring quickly under the rain of blows from the swift and nimble murkrow.

"Just keep on using peck," Tobias encouraged. It was a rather redundant command, as that was the only technique that the murkrow had mastered. Jinx could see that his opponent was nearly done for, and decided to finish him with one final, decisive strike. He brought his beak down squarely between the opponent's squinted eyes, landing a devastating blow.

The result was startling. Pascal's eyes popped open. "Psiyiyiyi!" he yelped. Jinx was suddenly hurled backward by a powerful blast of pent-up psychic energy.

"Jinx, are you all right?" Tobias called out to him. The murkrow stood up by way of reply. His feathers had all been bent backwards, as though he had been buffeted by a gale-force wind, but the dark energy imbued in them had dissipated most of the attack's fury. Now thoroughly enraged and convinced that his foe would fall soon, he leapt forward and landed yet another devastating peck attack.

Pascal collapsed, exhausted by his wounds and the energy expended by his involuntary attack. "Return, Pascal," Mark sighed, ringing the psyduck's chime dejectedly. "Looks like you got the better of me," he admitted, digging in one of his pockets for the money that he was required to hand over to the victor, Tobias. "You're lucky that your murkrow is a dark-type though. Anything else would have been knocked out by Pascal's headache attack."

"Yeah, he's pretty strong," Tobias admitted, trying to hide his joy as he accepted Mark's money. As soon as the other guide turned away, he gleefully counted his earnings. Five hundred Pk, over double what his parents had given him. He would be able to afford everything that he'd need to get to Rareview with this money. Jinx staggered over to him, the surge of adrenaline that had carried him bravely through battle beginning to wear off. Tobias extended his arm to him, and the murkrow ascended it wearily. "Good job, Jinx," Tobias congratulated him. "Can you believe it? Our first guide battle, and you won!" Jinx muttered something into his feathers, as though suggesting that it had been nothing, a foregone conclusion, but was clearly flattered. "Why don't you take a rest at the center while I go shopping?" Tobias suggested, walking back to the large building into which Mark had just disappeared. Jinx nodded wearily.

Tobias was sorely tempted to spend all of his money right here in Tomato. Though the variety of goods provided would certainly not have impressed any old-hand guide, Tobias was held in awe at the array of items to be purchased. There were stalls of special herbal blends to increase pokémon's strength and stamina, unusual items that could be utilized by a battling pokémon, and even the occasional rune slab, special tablets that could be used to teach a pokémon a new technique. Tobias went from shop to shop, wide-eyed and itching to spend his newly-earned money. In the end, he restricted himself to buying only food and several herbal medicines that could be used to heal pokémon. He slipped his selections, including strips of dried meat, a small bag of fresh berries, and a bag of dried fruit and nuts into his pack and headed back to the center, where Jinx was waiting for him. Gathering up his pokémon, he set out once more, headed northeast to Rareview.

The going was fair, the day fairly chilly at first but slowly warming to a pleasant level. A building of clouds on the horizon had Tobias worried, however; if a storm was headed this way, it would likely strike before he was able to reach the safety of Rareview. If that occurred, he would be stranded on the flat, unsheltered plains. Still, there was nothing he could really do besides turn back and hang around in Tamato until the storm blew through, and he definitely didn't want to do that.

Once again, the sentret confounded Tobias's skills, the shy pokémon evading his every attempt to track them down. Tobias was beginning to grow worried; he desperately wanted to catch another pokémon before he reached Rareview, as it would help him to avoid uncomfortable situations if he could pass a different pokémon off as his starter and also because he would need any help that he could scavenge if he wished to conquer the Fire Temple.

Tobias occasionally caught a glimpse of another guide forging a trail across the open plains, presumably intent on the same destination as he. The distant figures would soon disappear behind a low rise or dip into a hidden valley, and they were never nearby for very long. Jinx was intrigued by the other humans and would fly as near to them as he felt safe, studying them all intently. For his part, Tobias was relieved that none of the guides seemed intent on battling; he had only one pokémon to protect him and there were no healing facilities nearby. He had already been attacked several times, usually by the small kiwiks that frequented the area. The diminutive creatures seemed to take offense to a large, clumsy human tromping around in their territory.

Tobias stopped in midafternoon to refill his canteen at a tiny creek flowing through the plains. To his immense disappointment, it was devoid of pokémon; it was a seasonal stream, barely a trickle of water that wended its way down from the distant mountains and collected here on the low-lying plains. He took advantage of the break to feed Jinx a bit of the healing concoction provided by Madam Truealder. The pasty substance smelled vile and even Jinx seemed reluctant to eat it, but eventually he overcame his revulsion and gulped it down and soon began to look better, the medicine doing its work and restoring his energy. It was as Tobias was seated comfortably near the riverbank, waiting for Jinx to finish preening his untidy black plumage, that he heard something odd.

The grass nearby was rustling and snuffling, as though there was a very large kiwik concealed therein. Tobias sighed and prepared to get up and move off if this indeed proved to be the case; the little birds were getting on his nerves and he didn't want to waste more of Jinx's energy facing one. The creature that popped out of the tall stalks and made its way over to the creek was no bird, however.

The small pokémon's bristly, striped coat blended well with the fronds of grass that covered the plains, the only feature that detracted from its camouflage its bright black eyes, which peered at Tobias curiously before the pokémon dipped its muzzle into the water and drank deeply.

Tobias smiled broadly as he recognized the pokémon as zigzagoon, a raccoon-like creature. It was rare to find one out in the middle of the plains like this; they preferred to live near civilization, which was a constant supplier of the unusual items that they so adored. It was a normal-type, and Tobias was determined to capture it.

The zigzagoon finished drinking and returned its gaze to Tobias. Jinx, who had noticed the small creature as well, spread his wings menacingly and cawed, "Krow!"

Much to Tobias's relief, the zigzagoon did not run as a sentret might have; rather, it stood its ground and growled back, "Zigzag, zigzag!"

"Looks like we have a challenger, Jinx," Tobias observed, heaving himself to his feet. "Hit it with a peck attack!"

Familiar with the command, Jinx took little time to obey. He was daunted somewhat, however, when the zigzagoon suddenly seemed to inflate to twice its size, growling in a menacing manner. Its spiky coat now stuck out in all directions, giving the impression of an enraged sandslash. Jinx still hit it, but perhaps more cautiously than he otherwise might have.

The zigzagoon responded by lunging full-force at the murkrow, catching him by surprise and sending him sprawling backwards. The angry bird clambered to his feet and was nearly knocked back down as the zigzagoon attacked him again. Jinx sidestepped and brought his beak slashing down again, injuring the zigzagoon further.

This pattern repeated itself several times over, the zigzagoon inflating himself whenever Jinx seemed to be getting too bold and continuing to tenaciously tackle him even as it became apparent that his strength was waning. At last, the battle reached a point where the raccoon pokémon would clearly not be able to continue for much longer. He was panting heavily, bleeding from several gashes. Jinx was looking more battered than usual as a result of the fight, his black feathers littering the sparring area.

Tobias apprehensively reached to his belt for one of the empty chimes hanging from it. If he failed to capture the zigzagoon, he'd have but one left, and they were expensive equipment to buy. He rang it clearly, and the reverberating note seemed to send a ripple through the flagging zigzagoon. His stripy form was converted into the familiar white mist of capture and dragged back into the chime in Tobias's hand. The guide kept a desperate hold on the ring at its top, as though to let it go would be to lose the pokémon within. As the mist was drawn up into the chime, the runes on its exterior flashed to life as the captive struggled. The entire chime quivered and shook with suppressed energy, occasionally pealing at a particularly violent quiver. Finally, however, the furious shaking of the chime stilled, the runes dimmed.

Tobias exhaled in relief, lowering the chime and returning it to his belt. He sat down once more and dug about in his pack for the book. Pulling it out, he looked up the information that it had on zigzagoon.

_Zigzagoon, the tinyraccoon pokémon. Type: Normal_

_Zigzagoon are afflicted by a powerful urge to forage. They will collect and store seemingly useless items for no apparent reason. Many guides employ their skills to collect items dropped by others or even in the acquisition of certain rare natural items, such as unique berries. It is considered cruel to leave zigzagoon in their chimes for extended periods, as they languish in enclosed spaces, always desiring to roam about and explore._

Tobias closed the book and replaced it in his pack. He dug out more of the healing salve and offered it to Jinx, who had strutted over to peer with interest into the huge book that his guide was almost always engrossed in. He grumbled irritably but accepted a small amount of it. Tobias removed the zigzagoon's chime from his belt and released his new pokémon.

The little raccoon graciously accepted some of the healing salve from his new guide. Tobias contemplated nicknames as the zigzagoon began to sniff Jinx with interest. What was a good name for a zigzagoon? All that he could think of at first was "Sripes," which he was far from satisfied with. As he observed the crazy zigzag pattern of the pokémon's coat, however, he was suddenly remembered of the long winter nights spent by the fire in his home, his mother knitting diligently. He remembered one project in particular, a wide scarf for Tobias's younger brother, Kevin, which was made up of triangular shapes much like those prevalent in the zigzagoon's coat. What was that pattern called again? "I know, Chevron!" he announced.

Chevron turned back to his guide and chirred, "Goooon." He was about to go back to inspecting Jinx, but the murkrow had evidently had enough of Chevron's curiosity. He croaked irritably and shooed the newly captured pokémon away. Chevron didn't appear to mind. He simply turned and disappeared into the tall grass once more, searching out new adventures. Tobias decided that he should do the same, standing and beckoning to Jinx.

"Let's get moving," he said. "The sooner we get to Rareview, the better." Jinx took to the air, scorning his normal perch on Tobias's shoulder in favor of open flight. As he circled lazily above the plains, keen eyes keeping watch over both his trainer and the new pokémon, Chevron, who romped about nearby, a telltale glitter caught Jinx's eye. Distracted, he floated down gently, trying to make out what the tantalizing object was.

Seeing that it belonged to another guide, Jinx pulled up disappointedly. He couldn't hope to stand up to another human without his there to provide healing and support, and he didn't like the looks of the hulking pokémon that followed in its guide's wake, trampling through the tall grass carelessly.

Meanwhile, the storm clouds quietly massed on the horizon, inexorably drawing nearer to the open plains.


	4. The Storm Breaks

Author's Notes: Thank you all for reviewing! I'm glad that you like the nicknames. I nickname all of my pokémon. How else would I be able to tell my three salamence apart?

**Chapter Four: The Storm Breaks**

On the third day of his journey across the plains, Tobias had begun to learn the harsh realities of a guide's life. Though sleeping out under the stars was certainly a romanticized notion of popular culture, he found that he would much rather suffer the dull view of a ceiling than the cold, uneven cradle offered by the earth. He awoke sore and shivering, to find the sky an ominous black, the plains drenched in shadow. The storm would break soon, and Tobias could only hope that it would prove to be a relatively minor one.

Chevron, who had taken to sleeping curled up on Tobias's chest during the night, yawned widely and chirped softly to himself as his guide awoke. Jinx had decided to spend the cold night in his chime, and Tobias let him out. The murkrow looked up at the darkening sky with apprehension, red eyes appearing worried. Tobias didn't notice, occupied as he was with breaking camp. He rearranged his bedroll and reattached it to his pack, then drew out his breakfast, a few berries and a small strip of dried meat. He slung the pack over his shoulder, chewing morosely, and set out. Chevron followed closely at first, but soon grew distracted and wandered out into the tall grass nearby. Jinx rode along on Tobias's head, still uneasy.

The day yielded few encounters with wild pokémon; the creatures seemed to have picked up on the not-so-subtle hints sent by nature and decided that it would be best to stay inside their burrows or nests for the day. Chevron, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered by the impending storm. He brought Tobias several interesting objects, darting out of the grass at regular intervals to present his latest treasure proudly to his guide. Most of the time what he brought were merely oddly-shaped rocks or dead flowers which Tobias quietly discarded once he was sure that the zigzagoon was out of sight once again, but occasionally he brought a berry or even a sprig of strange leaves which, with the help of his large guidebook, Tobias discovered were the main ingredient in most antidotes. These items he added gratefully to his pack. Useful item or otherwise, Tobias made sure to create a large fuss over the trinket so as to avoid hurting Chevron's feelings.

Today his spirits were dampened by the oppressively still, expectant air that hung over the plains. The chilly certainty that disaster was approaching was heavy in the oppressive atmosphere. Chevron's perpetual cheer began to grate on the new guide, and he sighed as he saw the zigzagoon appear with yet another treasure. It was another rock, and Tobias made a half-hearted show of gratitude over it before Chevron set out again. He was just about to discard it when he noticed the small markings cut into it. He stopped and brought the stone closer to his face, squinting at it curiously. Jinx leaned forward to have a look as well, but soon subsided, the lack of luster boring him.

The small markings appeared to be runes of some sort, formed in a precise, regular manner. Tobias deposited it in his pack to be dealt with later. He was sure that there was a section on ancient runes in his large guidebook, as there was a section on most _everything _in it, but he didn't feel like stopping and taking the time to look it up. The impending storm was prodding him forward at a restless, unceasing pace.

A cheerless midday came and passed. No droplets had yet fallen, but a slight wind was now rippling the long grass of the plains. Rain could be smelt on the breeze, the day's darkness seeming to deepen. Tobias was immensely surprised, therefore, to see a figure coming over the hill ahead of him, headed his way. The person spotted him as well and hurried forward. It was another guide, as Tobias saw. He caught the tinkling of chimes on the wind as the guide jogged forward. It was an intense young boy, apparently a new guide as well, if Tobias could judge by the presence of only two chimes on his belt. But why would someone be journeying across the plains from Rareview? The town was but a day and a half or so ahead, and anyone would have thought twice about journeying out into the ominous weather.

The boy ran up to Tobias. "I challenge you to a battle," he announced curtly by way of introduction.

"Huh?" was all that Tobias could reply.

The other boy stared at him as though he were stupid. "What, you deaf or something? I said, I challenge you to a battle. Come on, I haven't got all day."

"O-okay," Tobias stuttered uncertainly. He didn't like this guide's attitude at all. He stepped back and his opponent took up a spot several feet away. "Two on two," Tobias called, and his opponent nodded curtly. A rustle in the grass nearby told Tobias that Chevron had caught wind of the fight. Sure enough, the bright-eyed zigzagoon nosed his way out of the grass stalks, looking up at Tobias expectantly. "You want in, Chevron?" he asked. The zigzagoon nodded and dashed over to take up his spot in front of the guide.

"Hah, what's that, a walking pincushion?" jeered the other trainer, reaching scornfully for the first chime on his belt. "Go, Sentret!" he barked. The squirrel-like pokémon appeared on his side of the field. Tobias winced. Sentret were shy and elusive, but they were very fast and often fierce fighters in battle. He'd been working with Chevron so that he was almost as strong as Jinx, but he had never faced a guided pokémon.

"Don't let him get to you, Chevron, tackle it!" Chevron charged forward to comply, barreling straight for the sentret.

"You can take this wimp, Sentret!" barked Tobias's opponent. "Counter with a quick attack!"

The sentret sprang into action, moving faster than the human eye could track. It slipped around Chevron's attack and slammed into him from the side, sending him stumbling away. "Hah! That was too easy!" jeered the opponent. "Get in there and use fury swipes!"

"Quick, use growl!" Tobias commanded desperately as the sentret lunged forward, small claws at the ready. Chevron's menacing growl and sudden increase in size had the usual effect on the sentret, who hesitated uncertainly. The momentary lapse in control was all the opening that Chevron needed. Lowering his head, he charged forward and hit the sentret square in the ring on its chest, toppling it. Tobias glowed with pride as he recognized headbutt, an attack that the zigzagoon had only mastered yesterday.

"Get up, Sentret!" shrieked the other guide. Tobias glared at him with unveiled disgust. Who was this kid? He was brought back to the immediacy of the situation with the added command of, "Use quick attack again!"

"Use tail whip to defend yourself," Tobias tried. Chevron spun around in a circle, waving his bristly tail in hopes of connecting with the speeding sentret. The super-fast pokémon simply dashed in when it saw an opening, however, dodging the flailing tail and sending Chevron into the dirt. Before he fell, however, Chevron managed to bring his tail to bear and swat the sentret as it was trying to pull away again. It fell back in alarm, and Chevron rebounded to hit the startled pokémon with a tackle.

"Your little raccoon's almost done for," sneered the opponent to Tobias. "Honestly, I don't know why guides bother to catch such weak pokémon. Finish this, Sentret! Fury swipes!"

This time the attack hit, and the small squirrel pokémon delivered blow upon blow to Chevron, who was still recovering from his attack. The zigzagoon collapsed, unable to continue. "Good try, Chevron," Tobias murmured as he recalled the fallen fighter, fear twisting his innards. What if the other trainer was _right_? Were his pokémon really weak? Pushing the idea from his mind, Tobias ordered out Jinx.

The tired sentret was easily sent packing with a single peck attack, but the sneer didn't disappear from the opponent's face as he recalled his fallen pokémon. Reaching for the second chime that hung from his belt, he sneered, "Now you'll see what a _real _pokémon battles like! Go, Scalgolin!"

The pokémon that was released from the chime was unlike any that Tobias had ever seen before. Its long, rat-like face was covered with green fur. From the ears back, however, scales burst from its skin, encasing its entire body. They were a healthy green tinged with brown, rising to two ridges of huge plates along the pokémon's back. It bared small teeth at Jinx in a confident grin.

"Time out!" Tobias yelled, digging in his pack for his book.

"Fine," acquiesced the opponent, mocking grin on his face.

Tobias finally found the book and opened it, searching frantically. Scalgolin…scalgolin…where was it? At last he found its page, quickly scanning the information thereon.

_Scalgolin, the pine shrew Pokemon. Type: Grass_

_Scalgolin lives on the forest floor, where it searches for insects. It sheds its scales once a year, leaving its hide vulnerable to attack. Many guides choose this time to seek out these pokémon, as they are most easy to capture during this period. _

So, scalgolin was a grass-type. That meant that Jinx had an advantage. The other boy didn't really seem to care about this though. "Ready to start again?" he sneered.

"Yes. Resume!" Tobias called. "Jinx, get in there and use peck!"

"Dodge and harden!" was the countercommand. Jinx flew with astonishing speed towards the bizarre scalgolin, but it darted nimbly out of his way. Jinx cawed angrily as he pulled up, preparing to make another run. The scalgolin, meanwhile, stood planted firmly as a wave seemed to pass across its body. The scales encasing it suddenly thickened, growing closer together in order to reinforce defenses. Jinx's second peck attack landed as the scalgolin was not quick enough to dart away again, but it did little damage, merely tearing out a few of the creature's scales. This elicited a hiss of pain from the grass-type, blood welling up from the crack in its armor.

"Good job, Jinx, peck it again!" Tobias encouraged.

"Time to attack, Scalgolin! Hit it with a tackle!" As Jinx dived again, the scalgolin rose up to meet him, armored hide smashing into the smaller bird even as his beak tore another bleeding strip in his back. Jinx was sent sprawling, the relatively huge scalgolin standing over him.

"Keep it up, Scalgolin! Harden again!" While Jinx was recovering, the scalgolin increased the strength of its armor further. To Tobias's horror, new scales began to grow out from the bare patches where Jinx had struck it.

"Come on, Jinx, you can do this! Peck again!"

"Tackle!"

Jinx appeared to be unable to comply, struggling to regain his feet. Tobias gasped. Was the scalgolin really strong enough to do that much damage in one hit? The scalgolin charged at the helpless murkrow, obviously seeing victory within its grasp. Suddenly, Jinx sprang back to his feet, spreading his wings and cackling loudly. The scalgolin spooked, its charge becoming an untidy train wreck as it tried to bring its attack to a halt, and Jinx dodged the out-of-control pokémon easily. It stumbled to a halt, panting, eyes wild. Before it had a chance to recover, Jinx slashed at it again with his beak. Most of the force of the attack was lost on the scalgolin's reinforced armor, but it did damage all the same.

"Wow, what attack was that?" Tobias gasped aloud.

"Astonish, of course," grunted his opponent grudgingly. "Enough fooling around, Scalgolin! Harden once more, then send this little crow packing with a swift attack!"

"It's almost done for, Jinx, just a couple more good pecks will do it!"

The scalgolin recovered and backed away, its scales thickening. Jinx lunged after it and managed to connect once more, but then was blasted away again as the Scalgolin executed the second part of its combo. It shook itself like a wet dog, and its scales flew in all directions. Due to his close proximity, Jinx took several hits as he was thrown backwards. He slowly pulled himself to his feet, pulling out the pointed scale that had dug itself into his chest. With all of the strength that he could muster, he flew at the grass type again. The scalgolin replied by sending another wave of scales at him, knocking him to the ground once more. Jinx struggled to rise, but another barrage caused him to finally succumb.

Tobias recalled him in disbelief. The scalgolin became immaterial and returned to its gloating trainer's possession. The other boy darted up to Tobias. "Money," he reminded Tobias. Tobias numbly reached into his pack and gave the boy 125 Pk. "Is that it?" the other trainer groaned as he saw how meager his winnings were. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised," he said. "If you couldn't even beat my scalgolin with a type advantage, you must not be able to earn any money. Wise up and get some stronger pokémon." With that, he left as swiftly as he had come. Tobias didn't even care to wonder as he headed straight into the center of the plains, away from shelter from the storm.

He released his pokémon with a heavy heart, pulling a pair of revival herbs from his pack. As he did so, the first drops of rain began to fall. At first, it was only a light, drenching shower, but soon the rain came slashing downward in cruel sheets. The sky roared and rumbled, thunder rocking the heavens and lighting slashing angrily downward. Tobias recalled his pokémon and ran across the plains, vainly hoping to see any shelter at all. At last, he took refuge as best he could in a low dip between two taller hills.

The bulk of the land shielded the guide from some of the wind's fury, but he was still buffeted and beset by the rain. He curled up miserably, waiting for the storm to pass on. There was a soft chiming from his belt as his two pokémon let themselves out. Materializing in the raging storm they appeared to immediately regret the decision. The three of them huddled together fearfully as the storm continued, the pokémon miserable but realizing that their guide needed reassurance. At last, the thunder rolled away, the lightning departed. The slashing rain diminished to a mere dispiriting, constant fall.

As the fear and awe inspired by the storm subsided, Tobias's misery and self-pity flooded back in. Chevron looked up at him with mournful eyes, as though apologizing for his loss. Tobias felt that he should comfort the zigzagoon and reassure him that he had done a fine job and that he shouldn't be ashamed, but he was feeling far too selfish. Jinx walked a short distance away, clearly fuming as he fiercely preened, a futile act as the steady rain continued to soak and bedraggle his feathers.

As the dispiriting downpour continued, Tobias's self-pity finally got the best of him. "Why me?" he choked at last. The rain was causing his nose to run, and he sneezed intermittently. "Why'd I have to get a stupid murkrow for a starter?" Jinx looked over his left wing to glare at his guide. Chevron whimpered and pressed himself closer to Tobias, who didn't acknowledge the act.

"I just wanted to do well as a guide!" Tobias wailed, his sneezes now mixed with hiccups of remorse. "I just wish I could get some strong pokémon. Maybe then I could do better," he moaned.

Any seasoned guide would have known that the best medicine for Tobias at this moment would probably be a good whack on the head and a curt order for him to "get over it," but his pokémon had no experience in the matters of human emotion. Chevron, feeling endlessly guilty, made soothing noises and did his best to comfort his guide, who stubbornly ignored him. At last, the Tobias hiccupped and sneezed his way to sleep, Chevron curled protectively on his chest. Jinx gave them a momentary look of disgust, offended by the display of sentimentality, then turned his thoughts back to himself.

The murkrow had conveniently arranged to forget that Tobias had in any way blamed him for the current state of affairs. No, what the murkrow had gotten out of his little speech was that he wanted some strong pokémon. That was only natural, wasn't it? All guides wanted stronger pokémon. Jinx continued to absentmindedly pull his scraggly black feathers through his beak, thinking hard. Then he finally latched upon an idea. That glint three days ago…now that was an interesting idea. He gave himself a mental pat on the back, deeming it the perfect solution.

With one look back down at his slumbering comrades, the murkrow fluttered into the weeping night sky, intent on a new mission.


	5. Three Wishes

Author's Notes: Whee! More reviews! Thank you! And thanks for clarifying that for me, Raichu-Fan. I don't know what C & C is, so some of the stuff in your 'fic sorta threw me.

As for how I come up with the plot, PNEK MEKS, I usually get the beginning and the end of the story nailed down first. In this case, I came up with the end before the beginning and was going to have it sort of in the prologue, making the actual story flashback. After that, I came up with some important events that would have to happen in order to get from beginning to end. All of the sub-plots and twists that come up between them are not planned; they're just whatever I write when I sit down to start the next chapter. Usually, I only know for sure what's going to happen for the next two or three chapters, and the rest is just a general plan of important stuff that has to happen at some point.

**Chapter Five: Three Wishes**

Tobias awoke feeling even more miserable than he had on the previous mornings that he had spent on the road. Every facet of his being ached, his body was soaked through, and a terrible cold bit into him. Chevron was still curled on his chest, shivering despite his thick fur coat . Tobias groaned and pushed himself up. Something clanked as he moved, but he paid it no mind, instead peering blearily up at the sky.

It was still a dark slate color, but no drops seemed to be falling from it. Chevron awoke slowly, his stirrings eliciting another clanking sound. Tobias, his interest aroused, squinted down to the Zigzagoon. Something long was lying across his chest; he couldn't get a better look at it until Chevron moved. Fortunately, the Zigzagoon took the initiative and stood, yawned, and stumbled away to stretch his short legs. Tobias's heart froze as he saw what it was.

Not it, but three its, long chimes that someone had set down upon him as he slept. Considerably larger than his own, these were made of pure silver rather than the bronze of those that he now carried. He gasped in alarm, sitting up suddenly and dislodging the mysterious objects. He scrambled to pick one up, bringing it closer to his face in disbelief. It _was _silver! That meant that this was a true chime, the most powerful regularly produced form of the guides' chime. They were as expensive to acquire as they were effective at catching Pokemon, so only highly experienced guides would have them. But where were they from? How did they come to be in Tobias's possession?

Then a thought struck him. "Jinx!" he called, "Jinx, where are you?" There was no response. Apparently, the Murkrow had returned to his chime in the night. Tobias pulled it from his belt and rung it. As soon as the Murkrow materialized, Tobias demanded, "Did you have anything to do with this?"

Jinx looked at the chime held in his guide's hand. He bobbed hid head emphatically, cackling in a pleased fashion. Tobias was horrified. "But…no…Jinx, these aren't mine! Did you take them from someone?"

This question puzzled the Murkrow. Certainly, there had been another guide there with the chimes, but surely he didn't need all six of them. Why, it must have been dreadfully heavy to carry them all around! He was merely relieving the poor boy of an unwieldy burden. Finally, the Murkrow nodded slowly, unsure.

"Jinx, that's stealing! You can't steal from people! Take them back to their owner!" he thrust them at the Murkrow desperately.

Jinx merely gave the wet chimes a blank look and then transferred it to Tobias. He cocked his head and uttered a confused, "Krow?"

Tobias hadn't been with his Pokemon enough to understand the nuances of their complex speech system, but he got the message loud and clear from this one. _But you're their owner now, aren't you?_

"No, they don't belong to me now! Take them back!" But Jinx refused, giving Tobias a reproachful look. Tobias sighed and slumped back to the ground. He cursed himself for his childish display last night. Jinx had heard that his guide wanted strong Pokemon, and he'd gone out to get some for him. He groaned. Just when he thought that life couldn't get worse…

Chevron came padding back cautiously. He looked at Tobias with sad eyes, pleading to be forgiven. Tobias sighed and sat up again, scooping the Zigzagoon into his lap. "Hey, I didn't mean what I said last night, okay, buddy?" he apologized as he scratched the Zigzagoon's spiky back. "You're a great Pokemon, honest. I just need to get my act together, that's all. I wasn't myself when I said that you were bad. Will you forgive me?"

Chevron churred his assent, relieved. Jinx rolled his eyes, but then returned to the vexing problem that lay before him. Rather than appearing grateful for Jinx's gift, his guide had instead made a dreadful fuss over the chimes, as though Jinx had done something wrong. Preposterous, of course, but that was humans for you. Jinx decided to leave the matter up to his guide; the chimes were his now, of course. With this matter settled, Jinx became disinterested in it and began looking around in search of breakfast.

Tobias, seeing the hungry way in which the Murkrow eyed his pack, sighed and opened it, searching for some of the dried meat for Jinx. As he doled out berries to Chevron and the meat to Jinx, he worried about the chimes. He was now, officially, a thief. He had illegally acquired three powerful Pokemon, the identity of which was still a mystery. What could he do? Jinx was obviously not going to return them to their true owner, and Tobias had no idea who that might be. He hadn't actually stolen anything, but the excuse, "I didn't want them, but my Murkrow took them and I didn't know who they belonged to so I kept them" didn't really hold water.

Then again, he couldn't just leave them here; someone would eventually come and pick them up, or the Pokemon within would let themselves out and wander away on their own, but they wouldn't be getting back to their guide. Losing three such undoubtedly powerful creatures would be a devastating blow to any guide's ambitions.

Chevron finished his meal and bounded away into the grass, cheerfulness restored. Tobias heaved himself to his feet, still shivering. He resolved that, if nothing else, he was going to buy a change of clothes and some sort of waterproof garment when he reached Rareview. As it was, however, he would just have to wait for his clothes to dry, and unless he fancied a nude stroll across the wet plains, that mean wearing them. He heaved his pack onto his back, uneasily hung the three new chimes on his belt, felt the now-familiar weight of Jinx settle onto his head, and set off.

The day passed pleasantly enough. Tobias's clothes dried slowly, but no further rain issued from the dark clouds, which had begun to disperse. Tobias spotted no other guides, but there were several wild Pokemon to defeat along the way. Tobias tried out Jinx's new astonish attack, but to his dismay it seemed completely ineffective against the wild Pokemon that he faced. A later check of his guide, with its massive attack index, showed that it was a ghost-type maneuver, and therefore completely useless against the normal-types that roamed the plains. Chevron surprised Tobias late in the afternoon by contemptuously kicking sand into the face of one of his own kind, blinding it long enough to finish it with a headbutt. Apparently, he had mastered the sand attack technique.

As the afternoon waned, Tobias was feeling considerably better. He had decided on the course of action that he would take when he reached Rareview. He would go immediately to the guard station there and turn in the three chimes, explaining as best he could the situation and apologizing. He figured that they wouldn't be able to punish him for anything if he returned the stolen property and tried to explain the unusual circumstances surrounded the theft. He hadn't called any of the Pokemon out of their chimes; they were likely very attached to their guide and wouldn't appreciate the sudden change of ownership. Most powerful Pokemon tended to attack thieves first and listen to convoluted declarations of innocence second.

All in all, he was feeling much better as a brilliant point of light came into view as he crested another hill. It shown out across the dusky plains, a welcoming beacon in the fading light. Tobias's heart quickened; it was the Rareview light tower. Each major town in Waytar had a light tower, where an honored Ampharos resided, its glowing tail lighting the way for all travelers seeking to enter the town after dark. He could vaguely make out the town in the distance, a dark mass lit here and there by a light, feeble in comparison to the powerful beacon emanating from the light tower, as its residents began to light the lamps for the night. Standing off to the right of the city was a straight, tall shape that rose up to an amazing height, jutting up into the sky even farther than the light tower. Tobias guessed that this must be the fire temple; nearby their loomed the enormous Mt. Vernalik, the long-dead volcano that the temple honored. Tobias started forward confidently, when movement ahead caught his eye.

Something large was moving about in the stretch of grass between him and the city. A large, shadowy figure was pacing back and forth through the grass. Tobias might almost have mistaken it for a guide, but the spikes that he could vaguely make out rising from its head were not an endowment of the human race. Curious, Tobias ventured nearer. It must be a wild Pokemon. But…nothing that large frequented the Larvari plains. Tobias squinted. No guide in sight. Intrigued, he started forward. Chevron popped out from the grass at his side, carrying some other small trinket to present to his guide.

The Pokemon's head suddenly snapped around, its distant face turning towards Tobias. He halted uncertainly, and the Pokemon suddenly rushed forward at him, running faster than Tobias could believe possible. As it neared, Tobias recognized it for what it was; a Scyther. He breathed an inward sigh of relief. Scythers were noble and honorable; most likely, this one was a town guard out on some assignment. He tried to keep that in mind as the powerful green Pokemon came to a halt before him, the wide blades sprouting from his wrists gleaming slightly in the distant light of Rareview's resident Ampharos.

"Hello, there," Tobias greeted the Pokemon as cheerfully as he could. "I'm just passing through on my way to Rareview tonight."

The Scyther regarded him coolly, intelligent eyes sweeping across Tobias's person and finally coming to rest on the Murkrow on his head. The eyes narrowed and then, faster than Tobias's eye could follow, one of the gleaming scythes lashed out, aiming straight for Tobias's heart.

That would have been the end of Tobias's journey if it were not for Chevron, who, seeing the Scyther's muscles tense as it prepared to strike, anticipated the blow and darted forward with head lowered. The headbutt caught the bug-type in the shin, knocking it slightly off-balance and causing the blade to slash through the air just slightly to the left of Tobias, who gasped in alarm and backed away.

The Scyther, a powerful and experienced battler, decided to deal with the minor annoyance that the Zigzagoon presented and sent his next blow whistling down upon the small creature, swatting it away. The sharp blade bit deep, and Chevron gave an uncharacteristic squeal of pain before coming to rest some three feet away in the grass. He did not get up.

The Scyther turned its attention back to Tobias, who was now quaking with terror. What was wrong with this Scyther? Why had it just flat-out attacked him--and aimed to kill? Jinx was ready as the Scyther prepared to lash out again. He gave a defiant "Murkroooowww!" and shot straight at the hulking creature. Even the Scyther could not avoid astonishment, its attack faltering. Jinx followed up by lunging in to peck at its eyes, but it recovered and dispatched of him as well. He fell in a crumpled heap of black feathers, and like Chevron did not rise.

The Scyther stepped purposely over the limp form towards Tobias, who had been backing away in terror all the while. One trembling hand went to the first silver chime on his belt. It was his only chance. The Scyther was intent on killing him, or at least severely injuring him, it appeared. Perhaps it had some sort of irrational hatred of guides, or perhaps it was simply insane. Whatever the case, he would never stand a chance on his own. Grabbing the chime, he rang it quickly, commanding, "Appear, Pokemon!"

The mist that the chime produce billowed into a reassuringly large form, settling into an experienced-looking Arbok. The purple snake gave Tobias a brief look of shock and consternation before a blade buried itself in its side. The long Pokemon hissed in shocked pain, and turned to battle the Scyther. It acted of its own accord, spitting gouts of acid at the darting Scyther, which slashed ferociously away at its opponent. Tobias ignored the fight, instead running over to the fallen Jinx. The Murkrow was hurt horribly, a deep gash running right across his chest and oozing blood. It was beyond Tobias's herbs to heal; he recalled Jinx in horror. Behind him, their was a long hiss of despair and the Arbok crashed to the ground, defeated. The Scyther's carapace was marred in several places where the acid had melted it, but it appeared little diminished. The Pokemon must be immensely powerful, Tobias realized.

It advanced again, annoyance clear in its manner as it started forward. Tobias desperately grasped the second chime and rang it. This time, he groaned in despair at what appeared. A large, blobbish creature took shape, two large rabbit-like ears rising from its formless head. A Wigglytuff. The Scyther seemed likewise affected, letting its guard down long enough to chuckle scornfully, a buzzing noise produced by vibrating its wings at a high speed.

The Wigglytuff was not likewise amused. "Wiggliii!" she shrieked and lunged forward, proceeding to bludgeon the Scyther with both rubbery arms. He recovered quickly, however, and the battle was joined in earnest. Tobias dashed over to Chevron. Seeing that he could help the Zigzagoon no more than he could have helped Jinx, he recalled him as well. Not daring to go near enough to the Arbok to check its condition, he recalled it from a distance. A sudden "WIIIIGLYYYTUFFFFFFF!!" made him cover his ears in pain; the Wigglytuff had apparently used a hyper voice attack.

In the end, however, the Scyther was again victorious, a final lightning-fast series of slashes finishing the valiant balloon Pokemon. As the Wigglytuff gave up the ghost, Tobias felt panic take hold again. He had only one Pokemon left. The Scyther was clearly weakened now, though, staggering a bit as it walked, bruises standing out amongst the chemical burns on his carapace. He rang the final bell, heart in his throat.

A low, spiky shape appeared. Tobias did not recognize the Pokemon immediately. Blue-furred, with an odd yellow crest that rose up to a point and a jagged yellow tail, the doglike Pokemon sank into a battle crouch. As barked its name, Tobias recognized it to be a Manectric. Hope surged once more. Scyther was half-flying, weak to electricity, Manectric's element.

The Scyther, realizing its disadvantage, threw its all into its final attacks. Slashing madly, it opened countless wounds on the electric dog's hide. Manectric battled back by crashing out a devastating thunderbolt, which hit the Scyther dead on. For a moment it could only convulse as the blast of energy wracked its body. Even this was not enough to take it out, however, and it battled back with its remaining energy. A final thunderbolt sent it to the ground, a horrible sort of smoke wafting from its body. The Manectric was on the point of collapse; Tobias recalled it and the Wigglytuff, then ran wildly in the direction of Rareview.

His feet hit cobblestones as he passed the first two houses, footsteps echoing eerily in the deserted streets. He could think of only one thing: he must reach the Pokemon center. He had the irrational notion that he would be safe there, that nothing would be able to harm him within its solid walls. The city, enormous when compared to the tiny Firstseed, seemed to go on forever, however, nearly identical homes and storefronts blurring into a mass of hostile, staring eyes in Tobias's terrified vision. He ran desperately through the alien streets, panicked brain screaming that, surely, the Scyther was following.

He at last staggered into the Rareview Pokemon center, a victim of terror and a desperate search around the unfamiliar and dauntingly large city in search of the facility. Fatigue and lingering panic driving all rational thought from his head, he unthinkingly handed the nurse all five chimes and collapsed into a chair at one of the common room tables.


	6. Master Thief

Author's Notes: Thanks for reviewing! As for who the Scyther belongs to, Facia, there was actually a little perspective-change section at the end of chapter five that revealed a bit about that. It sorta messed up the timing of the story, though, so it has been moved to the beginning of chapter eight instead. And oh, yes, Tobias is in a great deal of trouble…

**Chapter Six: Master Thief**

Tobias was gratefully stuffing his face in the Rareview Pokemon center, thinking only of a hot meal and warm room at last. The food was delicious, and he was tired and hungry. He was therefore not observant enough to see the nurse who had taken his Pokemon whisper something to one of the other aides working behind the center's bustling counter. The recipient of the whisper gave the nurse a horrified look and then left abruptly, headed out onto one of the city streets.

As Tobias sat back, meal finished, he wondered briefly why the nurse hadn't returned his Pokemon to him. He then winced, realizing how badly damaged most of them were. Nothing that an experienced nurse couldn't handle, he was sure, but they would take some time to heal. The revelation at once banished the mindless cheer that had pervaded his mind while he was gorging himself, bringing him back to the chilling terror of but a few minutes ago. Why had that Scyther attacked him? Where had it come from and who had sent it?

He pondered darkly, idly tapping his fork on his empty plate. No Scyther that strong could be wild; it had taken on three highly experienced guided Pokemon and had nearly beaten them as well. It must have a guide, or have had a guide at some point. He frowned and sat silently, lost in thought.

He didn't immediately notice when the door to the center banged open again, admitting the frightened aide. A tall man entered behind her, wearing the intimidating green garb of the Rareview city guard, the sword hanging at his waist more than ornamental. Behind him loomed a grim Arcanine. The aide said something to him in and pointed discreetly at Tobias's hunched figure. The man nodded grimly, and the aide scurried back behind the counter. Tobias began to sense that something was wrong when the chatter that pervaded the air of the bustling center was promptly extinguished. Frowning, he looked up, scanning the room. Turning around, he saw the advancing guardsman. It appeared that he was coming in Tobias's direction.

At first Tobias was only puzzled. Why had the guardsman come into the center? Who in here was suspected of a crime? Surely not him…he had the chimes, true, but he was about to go to turn them in, no one knew that he had them. He'd take them to the guard station right after he got them back from…from… His gaze shifted to the nurse standing behind the counter. She glared back at him. The blood drained from Tobias's face as he looked back at the guardsman, who was now wearing a grim smile. How could he have been such a fool? Someone must have already reported the Pokemon as stolen, and the center nurses would have of course been alerted to the situation, as they were the ones most likely to have the stolen goods come through their door. Not that any real thief would be likely to take the stolen Pokemon to the next town over to be healed, of course.

The guardsman loomed over Tobias. "I am sergeant Danklake," he growled menacingly, a noise imitated by the hulking Arcanine, which had come to stand next to its partner. "Are you the young man who just checked in five Pokemon to be healed at this center?"

"Ye-yes," Tobias acknowledged with a gulp. What could he say?

"Come with me, please," the guardsman commanded. Tobias rose shakily to his feet, picking his pack up off of the floor from where he had dumped it. Once again, all eyes were on him. He thought he even caught a glimpse of a pair of trainers that he had seen in the Tamato Pokemon center exchange knowing glances.

The guard turned and led Tobias curtly from the establishment, the Arcanine following behind to ensure that Tobias didn't bolt. The guard began interrogating his captive before they even reached the guard station, which was at the base of the tower housing the town's Ampharos. The cheery light shone down from on high, illuminating the narrow street in sharp blacks and whites. "What's your name?" the guardsman barked.

"Tobias…Tobias Talltree," Tobias replied in a small voice.

"How long have you been a guide, Tobias?" the man continued, pushing open the door to the guard station and ushering the terrified guide into its interior.

"Only just six days, sir," Tobias replied. The guardsman gave him a brief glare before walking up to the desk that stood in the guard station's interior. A woman sat ramrod-straight behind it, also attired in the uniform of a city guard.

"I have one Tobias Talltree here for questioning regarding the theft of three high-level Pokemon from one Kenneth Mountberg. Please alert the victim and request that he report here for identification of the stolen goods. Also ask nurse Windleaf if she would kindly send the stolen goods here for impoundment until their owner can be determined. Mountberg should be at the Pokemon center as well," Tobias's escort barked. The woman behind the counter nodded and, looking down, issued a command to something lurking out of sight.

A Furret oozed from behind the desk. It nodded once at its partner, then dashed from the guard station, striped body disappearing through the door and out into the night. "Keep moving," sergeant Danklake barked, shoving Tobias before him. The guardhouse was really a small affair, a front office and waiting area, a set of rooms for interrogation, and finally a few dank cells in the back area. Tobias was shoved into one of the questioning rooms, which was very small and pitch black. "Defender, if you would," the sergeant said, and there was a sudden gush of flame, far too close to Tobias for comfort, which leapt across the small space, igniting the lamp on the room's far wall. Defender, the Arcanine, strode into the room, which Tobias now saw was occupied only by a very uncomfortable-looking chair, the sergeant following. "Sit," the sergeant growled to Tobias, who complied. "Where do you hail from, Tobias?" was the first question.

"Firstseed, sir," Tobias replied dully.

"Firstseed, eh? Not too far from here, then. How did you come to possess three powerful Pokemon if you have only been guiding for six days, Tobias?"

Before he could help himself, Tobias felt himself spouting the entire insane story. "It wasn't me, sir! It was my Murkrow! You see, I mentioned that I wanted some stronger Pokemon, and he decided that he should go and get me some, and he went while I was sleeping and took them from someone! I tried to make him take them back, but he wouldn't! I didn't know who they belonged to, so I thought I could bring them here and turn them in. I was going to return them, honest! I didn't really steal anything! I don't want them!"

"Right," Danklake growled. "Your Murkrow went and nicked three highly experienced Pokemon from another guide without any sort of direction from you. You fully intended to return them, but somehow managed to forget about that and decided to stuff your face instead. Honestly, kid, if you're going to come up with an alibi, at least make it something vaguely plausible, and try not to make it sound so incriminating to boot."

"It's true! I swear!" Tobias cried desperately.

At this point, the door to the room opened and the severe-looking woman who had been behind the counter poked her head in. "I apologize for the interruption, sir, but nurse Windleaf claims that the allegedly stolen Pokemon are too damaged to be moved. She and Mountberg are awaiting you at the center."

The sergeant grumbled irritably, but nodded to the woman, who withdrew. "What's this?" he snarled at Tobias. "Pokemon too severely injured to be moved? It looks like could have more than just theft on your record, Talltree. Get up."

Tobias was in a daze of horror as he followed the sergeant numbly back to the Pokemon center. Were the Pokemon really that injured? And Jinx…Jinx had been hurt worse than any of them! What could he do? How could he convince the authorities that he hadn't meant to steal the Pokemon?

He found himself being led into the back area of the Pokemon center, the actual hospital. Here nurses rushed back and forth between ailing Pokemon, some carrying rolls of bandages or pots of ointment, others food or drink for the ailing creatures. The air was filled with the sickly scent of herbs, just barely masking the scent of blood. Injured Pokemon lay on cots all throughout the ward, some badly injured, some simply resting, and others sick. Tobias was horrified as they reached their destination.

Before him lay his two Pokemon and the three that had inhabited the stolen chimes, each on its own cot. The Arbok, long body sagging off of the cot, was so tightly wound with bandages that Tobias doubted that it could move at all. Its eyes were open but glazed, staring blankly as it rasped through its open mouth, tongue lolling. The Manectric looked somewhat better, though it was still heavily bandaged and a nurse was by its side applying more ointment to one particularly nasty gash on its back. Jinx and Chevron were laid side by side on the same cot. Both were comatose, chests rising and falling shallowly. Finally, there was the Wigglytuff, apparently asleep, and by her side the imposing nurse that had taken the Pokemon to be healed. A boy was sitting by the Pokemon's side, holding one of its rubbery hands in his own. He looked up at the trio's approach, and Tobias was shocked to recognize the face. He couldn't quite place it, though.

A glitter off to the guide's side answered the question for him. It was the Encruslen guide from the last center! The other boy, Mountberg, recognized Tobias as well. "You!" he gasped. "You're the kid from the center!"

"An acquaintance of yours?" the sergeant asked sharply. The other boy shook his head.

"No, I just saw him at the last center I visited, in Tamato. What did you do to my Pokemon?" he snarled at Tobias, his free hand clenching in anger. The Encruslen raised its head to look at Tobias, horns and eyes glittering dangerously.

"Looking to add a charge of cruelty to Pokemon to theft, eh, Talltree?" the sergeant asked grimly, surveying the scene.

"No! I didn't do that to them! There was a Scyther outside of Rareview, and it attacked me. It tried to kill me! I had to use them to protect me," Tobias pleaded.

"I didn't hear any reports of a Scyther in the area," the sergeant mused. "It was wild? No guide?"

"Yes! Well, I don't know. I didn't see a guide," Tobias replied.

"Preposterous!" boomed Danklake triumphantly. "No wild Scyther could possibly take on these three finely trained Pokemon! But we didn't come here to discuss your crimes. Mountberg, are these your Pokemon?"

"Yes," the Encruselen's guide responded. "These are my Wigglytuff, Arbok, and Manectric. I don't own those two," he made a scornful gesture at Chevron and Jinx.

"All right, then," Danklake said. "Nurse, please return those Pokemon's bells to this boy. Give the other two to me." The nurse produced the three silver bells from somewhere in her robes and handed them to the Mountberg boy, who received them with a look of immense relief and joy. She then walked up to Danklake and placed two bronze bells in his outstretched hand. "Thank you," he told her, and she nodded curtly. "Get moving, scum, back to the guardhouse."

Before he knew it, Tobias found himself back in the small guardhouse. He was left in the small questioning room that he had been introduced to before, the Arcanine seated before him, toothy snout daring him to attempt to escape. The two humans had left to find the judges; Tobias would be tried and sentenced that very night.

The justice system of Waytar is incredibly smooth and efficient. After a suspect accused of a crime has been rounded up, they are brought in and tried before a panel of three judges, all psychic-type Pokemon, who review the accused's memories in order to determine whether he or she is guilty. As a result, the crime rate in the region is incredibly low; a lawbreaker knew that if he was ever caught, there was no redemption. Even the most skilled criminal could not change his own memories. All suspects went through questioning first, of course, but this was mostly just to weed out any obviously innocent people from the running and to determine the accused's background so that he or she could be checked for past offenses.

This knowledge actually heartened Tobias. Now that he thought about it, he had nothing to fear. The judges would replay his memory, see how the events had played himself out, see that he had not fabricated the Scyther. They would see his innocence, and he would be acquitted.

At last the two returned, the woman carrying three silver chimes. She stood before Tobias and rang them simultaneously. After the resultant cloud of smoke had cleared, Tobias found himself faced by three psychic Pokemon, two grave Xatus and an intimidating Alakazam.

"You have been assembled to judge the case of Tobias Talltree, accused of stealing three powerful Pokemon from another guide, Kenneth Mountberg. He is further accused of cruelty towards these Pokemon. Are you prepared to commence the trial, judges?" the woman intoned, the Arcanine backing away to leave Tobias alone before the three mysterious Pokemon.

_Let the trial of Tobias Talltree commence, _three grave voices intoned in unison. The psychic-types spoke directly to the mind of their listeners in a universal language understood by all conscious beings. Tobias was then dragged under by a sudden rush of images as the three judges perused his memory. They managed to bring forward the scene of merely six days ago, his start as a guide. He relived his doubts and fears, and his horror at receiving Jinx as a starter Pokemon. The judges seemed to take particular interest in this, allowing the scene to play out in real-time. They then sped forward, fast-forwarding through his memory banks, skimming over his encounter with the Kiwik, pausing only briefly during his stay in Tomato to freeze for a minute as he saw Mountberg for the first time at the center, taking note of the event. They then sped on, reaching his battle with the mysterious Scalgolin trainer. From here, the judges seemed to take more interest, slowing down their review. Tobias again felt his shame and despair at his first loss, the terror of the storm and the misery that followed. The judges watched his horror at Jinx's present, his conviction to return the chimes to their rightful owner. They came at last to his encounter with the Scyther. Here, the judges slowed the memories down, studying the Scyther and ensuing battle with minute scrutiny. Once it had finished and Tobias had once again reached Rareview, they withdrew, memories dissolving back into present.

Tobias found himself once again staring into the eyes of the judges, hope surging in his breast. The sergeant appeared to surmise from the alert look that returned to Tobias's eyes that the review of evidence was over. "What is your verdict?" he asked the judges.

There followed a very long silence. The three judges continued to stare blankly at Tobias, though he was sure that they were conversing between themselves. He began to grow nervous. What was taking so long? He was clearly innocent…wasn't he?

The guardwoman was just as impatient. "What is the verdict?" she repeated, as though the judges might not have heard the first time.

At last they spoke, again in unison. _He is guilty._

"What?" Tobias shrieked. "How can you say that? You saw my memories! You know I didn't do anything wrong!"

_Guilty, _repeated a voice that Tobias had the impression belonged to the Alakazam.

_On all charges, _added the two Xatu.

Though Sergeant Danklake appeared to gleeful to question the sentence, the other woman asked, "The boy mentioned something about being attacked by a Scyther. If there is indeed such a dangerous Pokemon in the area, we need to know. Did you see anything about a Scyther in his memories?"

Again, the Psychic types were silent, though not for as long as before. The Alakazam spoke again, _There is no need to fear. There was no Scyther._

_We must reconvene to determine a sentence, _the two Xatus announced. _Hold him until we have decided upon one._

Sergeant Danklake, a triumphant look upon his face, nodded curtly. The other woman recalled the three judges and disappeared out of the guardhouse's door once again. "Well, Talltree, it looks as though you're not going to be a guide much longer," the sergeant observed. "And you barely got started, didn't you? Well, that's what you criminals deserve. In fact, I'll be sending two Pidgeots to Firstseed first thing tomorrow. One to your most unfortunate parents, reporting that their little angel is a Pokemon thief and abuser, and a second to whatever master guide deemed you worthy of guidedom." Tobias offered no resistance as he was shoved roughly into one of the cells at the back of the guardhouse.

He sat listlessly upon the pallet therein as the sergeant slid the barred door shut, whistling jauntily as he locked the cell and sauntered away. Defender remained, plopping himself down to guard. Tobias was lost within himself. _Why _had the judges deemed him guilty? They knew he was innocent; it was written in his memory. What was going on here? It seemed that Pokemon were conspiring against him. First a crazed Scyther that had tried to kill him, and now three that had convicted him of two crimes that he hadn't committed!

His thoughts then turned to his family. They would likely receive the terrible news by nightfall on the day after tomorrow; the messenger Pidgeot that would carry the news of his conviction to his parents would doubtless make it over the plains in that amount of time. He could imagine his parents' shock, their disbelief. But how could they argue? The judges never lied. His family would be devastated, disgraced. None of his younger siblings would even be considered for guidedom, no matter how promising they appeared. His family would bear the taint of his crime for years, if not generations.

Terrible thoughts chased themselves around and around in Tobias's head. At last, he could take it no longer and slipped involuntarily into a tormented slumber.

He was awoken by a strange sound. Blinking wearily, he found that it was the middle of the night. To his surprise, the faithful Arcanine, Defender, was snoring gently outside of the cell door. A small humanoid form stood over the slumbering dog. It blended into the night perfectly, save for two large eyes that stood out luminously in the gloom. Tobias squinted, eyes growing accustomed to the faint moonlight drifting down through a small barred window set high up in Tobias's cell. He recognized the creature as a rare Sneasel. The bizarre Pokemon's left ear was small, cat-like. The other, though, was graced by a red feather-like growth that swept back from its head. More of these odd ornaments sprouted from her back, and they formed a tail of sorts. This Sneasel's renown claws were retracted into her small black paws. Currently, they were occupied in trying keys from a large ring in the lock. The scraping noise that resulted from that activity was what had awoken Tobias.

The Sneasel finally found the right key, and the lock clicked open. She pulled open the cell's door and beckoned for Tobias to exit. He dazedly rose to his feet and did so, the Sneasel closing the door behind him.

"Okay, I've got his chimes, Leger. How's it coming?" a whispered human voice drifted down the corridor. A tall shape approached, stepping out into sparse moonlight. "Oh, you're done. Good job."

Tobias stared at the mysterious character. It was a boy a few years older than himself, perhaps sixteen. He was swathed in a dark cloak, but four chimes gleamed at his belt. Despite their presence, he seemed somehow to be able to move without ringing them, silent as a shadow. He wore a shapeless black cap that covered his red hair, and his eyes gleamed mischievously down at Tobias. What stunned Tobias the most about him, though, was the Jigglypuff on his shoulder, which regarded Tobias with huge, curious eyes.

The boy stuck out his hand. "Alexander Hailfog. Pleased to meet you. Tobias Talltree, am I right?"

Tobias shook the boy's hand dazedly, nodding.

"Call me Alex, Tobias. I'm not one for long names. Anyway, I heard about your little job. Right nice piece of work, in my opinion. Can't say I could have done better myself," the other boy continued.

"Job? I don't know what you're talking about," replied Tobias, still more confused.

"Oh, come on. You manage to make off with three very fine Pokemon from right under another guide's nose? Now that takes skill, my friend. 'Course, the whole end bit was a bit botched, but as I understand it, you're just a beginner," Alex explained.

"How many times do I have to say that I didn't steal those Pokemon?" Tobias wondered aloud. "I'm no thief!"

"Now, now, there's no need to be modest. Take credit for your successes, I always say. I don't suppose you've heard of me, Tobias?"

"No," Tobias replied curtly.

"I suppose not, seeing as I'm guessing that you're not in any sort of guild yet. No matter. I'm a master thief, you see, and I've taken an interest in your case," Alex explained proudly.

"I'm not a thief!" Tobias hissed as loudly as he dared.

"What did I tell you, you don't--what's that Leger? Oh, right." The Sneasel had tugged pointedly on Alex's cloak and gestured at the slumbering Arcanine. "We'd better go. Siesta's put 'em down for the count, but who knows when the old brute might wake up, and then we'd have trouble. Got all of your stuff?"

Tobias had never been relieved of his pack, and he scampered back to retrieve it from his cell. If it came down to trusting a thief to get him out of this mess or living the rest of his life denied the privilege of being a guide, he'd take the thief. Alex, surprisingly, seemed almost trustworthy, although Tobias reflected that that was probably what allowed him to be so good at his job. He indicated that he was ready, and Alex shoved a pair of chimes at him.

"These are yours," he announced.

"My Pokemon are in them? Are they all right?" Tobias asked, accepting the two chimes gratefully.

"Sure, they're fine. Just had to go and retrieve their chimes from sergeant Dankbrain and bust 'em out of the center, that's all. Not hard. They're fine, just needed a little rest. Now let's get going."

"Where?" Tobias asked, not moving.

"The fire temple, of course. They offer asylum to all guides, even those convicted of a crime, like yourself and yours truly," Alex explained. "Come on, come on, we don't have all night."

Tobias began to reluctantly follow the older boy, but continued to ask questions as they moved through the darkened guardhouse. "Really, all guides?" he asked incredulously.

Alex paused thoughtfully for a moment, then turned back to Tobias. "Well, I guess not _all,_" he admitted. "Don't worry, though, I'm sure Master Dewshiver will like you. There's nothing for you to worry about. Trust me."


	7. The Fire Temple

Author's Notes: Thank you for reviewing! Not much else to say here…

Chapter Seven: The Fire Temple 

Feeling, if anything, less assured than before, Tobias followed Alex out of the guard station. The street outside was still bathed in the stark glare of the light tower. Alex set off down the street, and Tobias followed, doing his level best to stay in the shadows.

After a couple of minutes passed in this fashion Alex, who had been strolling down the middle of the cobbled street, stopped with a sigh. Turning to Tobias, he asked, "Would you stop that? You look terribly suspicious."

"Oh, uh, sure," Tobias replied, emerging from the pitiful shadow of a street sign and joined Alex in walking out in the open. Tobias was amazed by the nonchalance that Alex exhibited as he trotted along. If he was really the master thief that he claimed to be, shouldn't he be worried that people would recognize him?

Now that he wasn't running in terror or being shoved along by a hulking guardsman, Tobias found the awe of the city slowly beginning to sink in. There were so many buildings, all crammed together. They passed row upon row of houses and shops on paved streets rather than scuffed dirt paths. The windows of the houses glittered with glass and over them all loomed the fire temple.

Standing outside of the light of Rareview's Ampharos, it reared up into the darkness, a shadowy creature with innumerable glaring eyes. Apparently, the tower was still active as lights burned in many of its windows. Still, Tobias fancied that he couldn't make out the tower's top as it merged with the flat blackness of the sky.

It was to this majestic building that Alex led Tobias, and the pair at last came to stand before the gates to the tower's grounds. Alex removed two of the bells from his belt and rang them as softly as possible, recalling Leger and his Jigglypuff. He then reached out and knocked firmly on one of the tightly shut wooden gates. For several minutes, nothing happened, and Tobias began to worry that there was no help to be found here after all. At last, however, there was a low groaning and one of the gates slowly ground open. A small boy clad in red robes and holding a candle aloft stepped around it and peered up at the two other boys.

"Danny!" Alex exclaimed with the air of someone greeting a friend whom they haven't seen in years. "The last person I expected to see on gate duty at this hour! Listen, I've got a friend here who wants to see Master Dewshiver. Be a chum and take us to see him, wouldja?"

The small boy squinted up at Alex suspiciously. Tobias was surprised to see that he was probably no older than eight. Finally, Danny lowered the candle and replied, "All right, Alex. But remember, Master Dewshiver will not be pleased to be disturbed at this hour. Even a master of a temple must have time to sleep."

"I know, I know, but it's important," Alex persisted. Danny shrugged and beckoned Alex and Tobias inside. He led them across a large, rocky expanse of ground that appeared to completely encircle the temple. At first, Tobias wondered why there were no flowers or plants growing here, but a dull glow caught his eye. Turning to look at it, he found that there was a large bed of glowing coals laid out across the bare earth. A shadowy form that Tobias guessed might be a Growlithe reclined comfortably upon it. As it turned out, there were several such beds scattered across the tower grounds, comfortable resting places for fire-types. Considering the amount of open flame that passed across this area, it was probably only wise that the plants had been removed.

They reached the tower proper quickly, and Tobias found that, rather than being constructed of wood as were most buildings, it was built out of dusty red bricks, the obvious choice in fireproof housing. Danny pushed open the doors of the temple, and a wave of heat rolled out, engulfing the three humans.

They stepped into what appeared to be a large main hall, a wide, brightly-lit room that branched off into numerous other corridors and staircases that wound up into the unseen heights of the tower. "Wait here," Danny commanded them. "I'll speak with Master Dewshiver."

Alex and Tobias obliged. Tobias was in awe of the strange tower, gaping up at the distant ceiling and then back down to peer at the numerous corridors and doors leading away from it. This room was rather simply furnished for a grand entrance hall, with a stone floor left uncarpeted with several chairs and tables scattered about. High up on the walls hung beautiful tapestries portraying such riveting scenes as the eruption of Mount Vernalik, the mountain at whose base this temple sat. Large murals presented the exploits of such legendary trainers as Victor Lavabalm, Harriet Rootwave, and Spencer Crashfire. Still others were portraits of what Tobias assumed were former masters of the temple, portrayed with their Pokemon in serene poses.

Alex, who was apparently accustomed to this routine, sauntered over to one of the chairs and made himself comfortable, leaning back and putting his feet on the table before him. Tobias, unsure of what else to do, took a seat next to him. The furniture, the only wooden items that Tobias had seen thus far in the temple, was old and well worn, with the occasional scorch mark marring their varnished surfaces here and there. He continued his visual exploration of the large rooms, his eyes finally coming to rest on the steam that billowed out of one of the connecting corridors.

Alex followed his eyes lazily. "Someone's in the tub," he remarked.

Tobias turned to Alex in surprise. "They have baths here?" he asked.

Alex nodded. "Yep, every room has one, actually. It's all hot water that's been piped in from the hot springs that run under this place. Courtesy of Mount Vernalik, of course."

"Every room has one? Even on the upper floors?" Tobias persisted.

"Yeah, they pipe it up there. I'm not quite sure how, but it has something to do with pressure and elevation and such. I've never had a head for that sort of thing. By the way, when you get your room, you should try one out. You could use a bath," Alex remarked pointedly.

Tobias wondered at the presence of so much water in the presence of so many flames. His musings were interrupted by the sound of footsteps on the staircase. Alex, turning to see who was descending, hastily removed his feet from the table. Tobias looked as well.

A man in violently red robes was making his way slowly down the stair, Danny trailing behind. A Torkoal lumbered down beside the pair, placing each foot carefully. Tobias sat up straighter, assuming that this must be the master of the temple.

The man and his escort made their way over to the table that Tobias and Alex were seated at. Master Dewshiver had a wild mane of spiky red hair and a hawkish nose over which keen eyes peered at the black-clad thief and the muddy, downtrodden young guide. Danny continued past the pair and out of the doors, presumably to return to his post at the gate.

"So, Alex, you've returned, and dragged another poor soul along with you, it would seem," Master Dewshiver observed in a deep, gravelly voice. The Torkoal had stumped to a halt next to its guide and was now peering nearsightedly at Tobias, who regarded it with interest.

"Yeah, I picked up a new friend," Alex replied. "He's a good kid, you know, but for some reason they had him all locked up and--"

He faltered and broke off. Master Dewshiver was glaring pointedly at the insolent thief. Alex returned the look with a Mareepish grin, then drew in a deep breath, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. When he began to speak again, Tobias was the one to stare at him. It seemed that another person had taken Alex's place.

"Indeed, Master, I have procured another who wishes to take advantage of your hospitality for a short period of time. I apologize for waking you, but the situation is dire and requires your immediate attention."

Master Dewshiver's eyes glinted mirthfully as he saw the look of awe and surprise written across Tobias's face. "Quite a change, isn't it?" he asked Tobias. "Alex really is quite the cultured gentleman, much though he is loathe to admit it."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," the thief muttered, but Tobias thought he caught a smile playing across his face.

"So, why did Alex drag you out here in the dead of night?" Master Dewshiver asked Tobias, fixing him with a piercing stare.

"Well, Alex helped me to escape from jail, and he said that you'd be able to provide me with protection," Tobias replied.

"Prison?" the temple master asked, eyes narrowing. "Why were you there, guide, whatever your name may be."

"Oh, I'm Tobias Talltree, uh, Master," Tobias replied. "As for why I was in prison, it's sort of a long story. I was convicted of stealing another boy's Pokemon and of Pokemon abuse. I'm not guilty, though," he added quickly as a dark shadow of anger passed across Master Dewshiver's face. "Well, maybe I did end up with the other boy's Pokemon, but that was only because my Murkrow went out and grabbed them and I didn't know how to get them back to him, and I was really going to turn them in, honest! But I got attacked by a Scyther right outside of the city, and all of my Pokemon got banged up pretty badly, and that's why they charged me with Pokemon abuse. The judges convicted me, but I don't know why! I really didn't do anything that bad."

"Not guilty, he says," the temple master mused, looking down at his Torkoal. "What do you think, old friend?" The Torkoal's long neck craned upward as she strove to get a better look at Tobias.

"Torr. Tor torkoal koltor torkoal," he wheezed at last, expelling a cloud of steam from his nostrils.

"Torkoal wishes to speak with your Pokemon," Master Dewshiver informed Tobias. "For it is they who would best judge the truth." Tobias nodded and reached for the chimes at his side apprehensively. What sort of state would Jinx and Chevron be in when he released them? He tentatively rang their chimes, their bright tone echoing about the vast room.

To Tobias's relief, the two Pokemon that appeared seemed merely tired. Jinx shook his head sleepily, blinking his baleful red eyes and fluffing out his feathers irritably. Chevron blinked blearily and shuddered. "Torkoal, tor torkoal, tor!" the Torkoal addressed the pair with a hiss of steam.

The pair gave their testimonials sleepily, the Torkoal listening intently and nodding appreciatively here and there. At last, the discussion seemed to be over. The Torkoal turned once more to its guide and announced, "Koal tor torkoal tor."

The master of the temple frowned, thinking hard. "Torkoal claims that your Pokemon uphold your claims. He believes that you have been wrongfully convicted, although I've never heard the like before. You have given me much to think on, Tobias. But for now, I think that it would be best to find you a room to stay in for the night. Do not worry, I will not allow the guardsmen to find you here. Follow me."

Tobias prepared to do so, readying himself to ring the two chimes again and recall his Pokemon, who were both clearly asleep on their feet. "Actually, it would probably be better to leave them out," Master Dewshiver told Tobias as he turned back towards the stairs. "Time passes far more slowly for a Pokemon when it is sealed away in a chime. They will benefit more from sleeping outside."

Tobias didn't really understand this argument, but he returned his chimes to their hooks on his belt all the same. Bending down, he scooped up Chevron under one arm and managed to coax Jinx to climb onto the other one. He hurried to catch up to Master Dewshiver, who had already reached the stairs, his Torkoal lumbering patiently behind. Alex darted forward to walk next to Tobias again.

"You're coming with us?" Tobias asked, surprised.

Alex shook his head. "Nah, I'm headed to my room. I've had enough excitement for tonight. It just happens to be in this direction, that's all."

"It was amazing how you could talk like that all of a sudden. How did you ever learn to speak like that?" Tobias asked the thief eagerly.

"Ah, that's not important. Fat load of good it does me. When you get into my profession, even a few seconds of delay can mean the end for you, so it's best if you speak…laconically. Even Leger's nickname got shortened. It's sort of a nick-nickname, really," Alex replied darkly.

"What's it short for?" Tobias persisted.

"Legerdemain. You know, sleight of hand. Well, this is my stop, kid. See ya 'round." They had reached a landing on the large staircase, and Alex darted off into a branching hallway, moving silently out of habit. Master Dewshiver continued to climb, and Tobias dutifully followed.

They ascended floor after floor, Tobias losing interest in counting after the sixth. At last they turned off on one of the landings, entering one of the branching hallways. Master Dewshiver halted before a nondescript, unmarked door, he pushed it open. "Your room," he explained. "It seems that Alex has taken an interest in you, so I shall send him to retrieve you for breakfast. We can talk further then."

Tobias wished to ask one question before the temple master departed, however. "You said that you would only provide me with protection because I was wrongly convicted of a crime, but you seem on well enough terms with Alex, and he really is a thief and makes no great show of hiding it from you."

Master Dewshiver looked down at Tobias with interest. "You ask intelligent questions, guide. Alex is a special case, or so you might say. He asks not for my protection, and I allow him to remain here out of courtesy. Perhaps you should ask him about it. And now, I really must sleep. I bid you good night, Tobias Talltree." With that, the master of the temple swept away, red robes swishing and Torkoal trailing along behind.

Tobias walked gratefully into the room, pleased with what he saw within. It held a large bed with a generous mattress, a small side table with an unlit lamp, and an additional dressing table with a mirror which, though cracked and somewhat dull, was still perfectly serviceable. Tobias lit the lamp and saw that there was also a door leading off to the side of the room, behind which Tobias assumed must lie the bathtub promised by Alex.

He gently laid Chevron upon the bed and set Jinx on the bedpost. The raccoon was already asleep, barely stirring as he was transferred from under Tobias's arm to the sheets. Jinx clutched the bedpost tightly, thrusting his head beneath his wing and gratefully closing his eyes. Though Tobias was tired, he was also very curious about the bath. He walked into the smaller room to find it occupied by a simple metal tub and several large, thick towels atop which perched a yellowish bar of soap. A single spigot jutted from the wall of the chamber. Curious, Tobias turned it on and stuck his hand beneath it.

He immediately pulled the appendage back as hot water cascaded from the pipe. Apparently this was the only temperature available, but he could always just wait for it to cool. Plugging the drain, Tobias went about filling the tub, still in awe of the way the liquid seemed to magically appear and tumble from the pipe. He judged that the tub was full enough and turned off the tap.

As he waited for the water to cool, Tobias gratefully stripped off his filthy traveling clothes. Staring at the garments, which were smeared with mud and stained with grass, he began to realize how dirty he really was. The fact that he owned only one set of clothes now began to present an interesting dilemma to him. He could wash them here in the hot water provided by the pipe, but he wouldn't be able to wear anything while doing so and while waiting for them to dry. He could try just bathing fully clothed, but he would then be forced to endure wet, clinging garments for the considerable time that it would take for them to dry in the humid temple air.

Cursing his predicament, Tobias realized that he wouldn't be able to buy anything more from the village, even assuming that he had the money left to do so. He was stuck with this one set of clothes until he managed to scrounge up a means of procuring others. He sighed dejectedly. For now, he would have to settle for just getting a bath for himself.

The warm water was incredibly soothing, and Tobias sank into it gratefully. The cares and worries of the previous few days seemed to float away with the grime that had clung to his skin. On the farm, warm baths or, indeed, baths of any sort had been few and far between, due to the amount of work required to heat the water and then dispose of it later.

Tobias emerged from the tub more drowsy than ever. He pulled the plug and watched with interest as the tub drained itself, the water within rushing away to some unknown destination. Donning his clothes disdainfully once more, Tobias returned to the main sleeping area. He carefully got into the bed, doing his best not to disturb the two peacefully slumbering Pokemon thereon. He pulled the thin sheet over himself and allowed the peaceful tides of sleep to carry him away, knowing that all too soon it would be morning once more and he would be faced again with a world of danger, intrigue, and deceit.


	8. A Distant Enemy

Author's Notes: Thanks for reviewing! And yeah, VulpixTrainer, Tobias was a name used in the Animorph books, but it is really a real name. I know a person named that, actually. Though I must admit I was obsessed with Animorphs when I was in elementary school.

**Chapter Eight: A Distant Enemy**

A boy that Tobias might have recognized as the Scalgolin trainer slouched nonchalantly in an uncomfortable chair in the middle of a large, brilliantly lit room. The newly risen sun streamed in through the huge windows set into the east wall, windows that would have widened the eyes of nearly any inhabitant of Waytar, as glass was expensive and valuable.

A grim form in flowing white robes stood with his back to the boy, staring fixedly out of one of the windows. The boy had also donned white robes, as was fitting for one of his order. Though he feigned unconcern and comfort, the whiteness of his knuckles as they clutched at the chair's armrests betrayed his true feelings.

At long last, the imposing figure spoke. "Sicolsur has failed," he announced. The boy in the chair gulped as the man turned, piercing green eyes burning into him. The man's close-cropped red hair gleamed in the sunlight, just beginning to thin at the top. "You, Timothy, are to be blamed."

"I tell you, it wasn't my fault!" Timothy protested angrily. "The foolish git didn't have any of those powerful Pokemon. I told you, it was just a Zigzagoon and the Murkrow."

"Siculsor told a different tale," the man continued, brushing aside the boy's protests, "once he had been revived and treated for his numerous wounds. He describes the boy leading with those two, but then calling upon an experienced Arbok, Wigglytuff, and finally Manectric. And he has the scars to prove it."

"I don't know how the boy got them!" Timothy shouted. "Maybe he stole them off of somebody. He _does_ have the Murkrow after all. He couldn't have beat up a Pokemon like Siculsor, that's for certain."

"And yet, Siculsor proved insufficient. He failed to kill the boy and the Murkrow as ordered," the man observed, turning back to the window.

"It wasn't my fault!" Timothy blurted yet again.

"Yes, yes, very well, it wasn't your fault. It was merely an unforeseen occurrence. But the fact is, you failed, as did Siculsor. We cannot afford more failures. You will have a chance to redeem yourself, of course," the man continued, this time still gazing out at the world beyond the glass.

"I'll do whatever it takes," Timothy volunteered eagerly. The threat of death tends to create willing and inspired workers.

"You must find the boy again. Discover how he came into possession of such powerful Pokemon. Battle him again, test his strength. And when he is again vulnerable, kill him. I will give you your pick of one of the Pokemon that we have here to complete the job with."

"Certainly, sir. But why is this boy so important, anyway?" Timothy asked, not able to suppress the question despite the fact that he was on thin ice.

For several seconds the older man said nothing. Then at last he announced, "The boy is of no consequence. He must be removed simply because he is guiding the Murkrow. It is the Murkrow that we must fear. Without a guide he is far from dangerous, but if allowed to remain on a journey with this boy, he will destroy our world."

Tobias was awakened, as promised, by Alex. The thief banged on the door at what Tobias assumed was an even earlier hour than the time that he normally woke up. Yawning, Tobias reluctantly pushed aside the sheet and stood up, dislodging Chevron. He staggered over to open the door, revealing Alex, who had already dressed himself in a short-sleeved black shirt and pants, grinning impishly.

"Up and at 'em. Breakfast," Alex announced. Seeing that Tobias was still dressed in the dirty clothes that he had been yesterday, he asked, "Yeesh, still wearing that stuff?"

"It's all I have," Tobias replied. "I'm pretty much ready to go. Should I bring my Pokemon with me?" he asked as Leger suddenly poked her sly head around the doorframe as well.

"Yeah, bring 'em, they'll get fed. And I'll see what I can do about getting you some clothes. Though I warn you, they'll probably be red."

Chevron jumped down from the bed to trot over to Tobias's side, ready to leave. Jinx, who had only just roused himself, flapped over to Tobias's head, taking up his familiar perch. "Right, come with me," Alex commanded, turning and leading the way down to the breakfast hall.

The room that he led them to was, surprisingly, not much larger than a typical Pokemon center common room. The residents of the temple had different schedules, so a large room was not required to house them all at once. Alex steered Tobias over to a table occupied by Master Dewshiver and his Torkoal. The master of the temple motioned for Tobias to be seated beside him, and Tobias did so, though Alex made no move to be seated.

"Well, I'm off," he announced. "Listen, Master, you've seriously got to get this boy some more clothes. He's a walking dirt heap."

"Aren't you going to eat with us?" asked Tobias, surprised.

"Nah, I already ate. I've got places to go, people to see, valuables to liberate. The whole deal." He swept from the hall, Leger trailing along behind. Tobias was left sitting with the master and his Torkoal. Chevron jumped up to the chair next to Tobias, and Jinx fluttered down to take up his usual spot beside Tobias's now-empty plate.

"So, young Tobias, I assume that you came here to Rareview seeking to earn your first temple certification. Are you still interested in pursuing that?" Master Dewshiver asked, beginning the conversation.

"Yes, I am," Tobias replied. "But, I don't really know what I should do. I'm a criminal now, and there's really nowhere that I can go. What will it really matter if I earn a certification just to have it stripped from me when I am recaptured?"

A young temple acolyte appeared with breakfast for the diners. To the two humans he gave several strips of bacon, scrambled eggs, and pancakes. Jinx was given three strips of bacon for himself, which he tore into with a will. Chevron's plate was heaped with some sort of warm bran mash mixed with berries, and Torkoal received a plate of vegetables heated over glowing coals.

Master Dewshiver began to cut his pancakes, accepting the syrup passed him to Tobias. "The way may not be as difficult as you assume," he replied. "Though the justice system is very well-adapted to determining the guilt of a suspect once they have them in custody, capturing a convict or suspect can be much difficult."

"Why?" Tobias asked.

Master Dewshiver smiled. "Why, what are the identifying factors for any Waytarian? If the guardsmen receive a description of a thief as being male, having short, red hair, green eyes, yellowish skin, standing perhaps five feet nine inches tall, and being about sixteen years of age, how many people will they have to apprehend and question? We Waytarians look so alike that it is often difficult to capture a specific individual based on such vague physical traits alone. The defining qualities by which we are able to tell each other apart, the subtle details such as the shape of the face and nose and such, are often overlooked in the heat of a robbery or the like, and may be interpreted differently by different people. It is not so hard to blend in to the crowd."

That made sense, of course. What distinguishing features did Tobias have that would set him apart from other guides about his age? He was perhaps a little short for his age, stocky and clearly used to physical labor, but those were not easily definable. The guardsmen could not very well question every single guide who drifted through and matched that description. But how many other guides would be carrying a Murkrow with them? "What about my Pokemon, though?" Tobias asked, still worried.

"They are not so unique as you might fancy," the master of the temple replied with a small smile. "In fact, I believe that, provided that you made it to, oh, say, about a day away from Rareview without incident and knew where to go to from there, you would have very little difficulty eluding the law. But that is not truly what I wished to speak to you about."

He was interrupted by the Torkoal which, having finished the vegetables on his plate, was now noisily crunching down the hot coals with apparent relish.

"It is more important to discuss _why _you must elude the law in the first place," he continued once the noise had died down somewhat.

"Why would the judges convict me?" Tobias agreed. "It doesn't make sense! The evidence was right in front of them!"

"You are a new guide," Master Dewshiver replied. "I, on the other hand, have held this post for many years. I know the workings of our society far better than you. Did it every occur to you how very much our society depends on psychic-type Pokemon?"

Tobias had to think about that for a moment. Psychic types were used in law, to determine the career that a child should pursue, to select which starter Pokemon a guide should take with them. They were even used for such jobs as construction, where they could deftly manipulate even the heaviest slabs of stone or the most massive of beams. It was even said that it was they who continued to maintain the shield that sustained Waytar's very existence. "I never really thought of it that way," he admitted at last.

The master of the tower nodded. "Indeed, psychic-types are perhaps the most useful of any type. They are highly intelligent, absorb new material quickly and make decisions for themselves. Their abilities give them the strength to watch the very thoughts of citizens, to learn of their every whim and dream. No other types can dream of such power. And yet, one might say that they are too intelligent."

Tobias was shocked by this. Was Master Dewshiver insinuating that the psychic-types were conspiring against humans? Seeing the look on the guide's face, the master clarified quickly. "Oh, no, I would never accuse the psychics of trying to harm humans. They are some of the most courageous and self-sacrificing of Pokemon, and they do their duties well. What I mean is that they often have their own reasons for their actions. What they consider to be for the good of society may not be considered so by we humans."

"But how would convicting an innocent guide help society?" Tobias cried in frustration.

"I do not know," admitted Master Dewshiver. "I merely wished to draw attention to this. It seems to me to be the most likely explanation for their actions. With this in mind, I must implore that, when you leave this place, you watch yourself. For some reason, they have taken an unhealthy interest in you, and you would be wise to be on your guard."

Tobias nodded. "I will."

"Good," Master Dewshiver replied. "With that matter settled, let us turn to more immediate affairs. If you seek to take the tower's challenge, you should do so today. Would it be agreeable if an acolyte came to get you at two o'clock this afternoon so that you might begin?"

"Sure, that would be fine," Tobias responded eagerly.

"I will see if, in the meantime, we might procure some suitable attire for you, as you seem to have no more of your own." At this point, an acolyte scurried over to their table and engaged the master of the temple in a quiet, harried conversation. Master Dewshiver finally nodded, and the acolyte departed. Returning his attention to Tobias, Master Dewshiver said, "I am afraid that I must depart. Something else has come up that requires my attention. You remember how to get back to your room?" Tobias nodded. "Good. Be ready at two, then." And with that, the master of the temple pushed back his chair and departed, his Torkoal close behind.

Tobias did the same, collecting Chevron and Jinx and departing the room. He soon found himself back in his room once more, with perhaps five hours before he need depart for the temple's challenge. He sighed and plopped himself down on the bed. Chevron jumped happily into his lap, Jinx fluttering over to the bedpost. It was the first time that Tobias had had alone with his Pokemon since the attack of the Scyther.

"Are you two all right?" he asked his Pokemon. Chevron chirred his affirmation and Jinx bobbed his head up and down in agreement. "You were both very brave," Tobias told them. Chevron purred happily, and Jinx shuffled about uncomfortably. Had the Murkrow been human, Tobias guessed that he would have been blushing. "Without you, I would probably be dead," Tobias admitted. "I just wish I knew why that Scyther attacked me," he added as an afterthought, more to himself than to the two listeners.

Reaching down, he began to scratch Chevron behind the ears. He found the fur there to be gummed with mud and dried blood, and it was then that Tobias realized that his Pokemon were nearly as dirty as he had been. While Chevron usually licked himself clean, he couldn't reach some spots, such as the area directly behind his head or near his tail. "You need a bath," Tobias announced. Chevron looked up at him quizzically, not understanding. Tobias gathered him up and carried him into the bathroom, setting him down upon its stone floor. Curious, Jinx fluttered in behind them.

Tobias filled the tub once again and, when the water had cooled enough, set Chevron down inside of it. The Zigzagoon was soon splashing happily about in the warm water, transforming from a fluffy, dusty creature to a surprisingly slim, lithe one. Jinx perched on the edge of the tub, watching the proceedings with interest.

Tobias played cheerfully with the frolicking Zigzagoon, splashing him with water and becoming a bit soaked himself. Though the suspicious Jinx refused to go any closer than the tub's rim to the water, Tobias would occasionally give him a playful splash as well. The Murkrow made indignant noises and set about preening the affected area.

When Chevron had finally tired of the bathtub, Tobias fished him out and set him once more on the stone floor of the chamber. The soaked Zigzagoon shook himself like a dog, spraying the room's other occupants and sending Jinx fluttering from the room, screeching angrily. Tobias, now dripping himself, rubbed the small Pokemon down with one of the large towels provided in the room, and Chevron's coat was soon returned to its usual spiky appearance.

An acolyte soon appeared with the promised clothes, which Tobias accepted gratefully, and a sandwich for lunch. He was astounded at the generosity of the temple's master; he had provided two full sets of clothing, well-made and serviceable. And while the shirt was the slightly yellowish color of Mareep wool and the pants were coarse but serviceable, at least nothing was red. Tobias gleefully changed into one of the clean sets of clothes and filled the tub yet again to wash those that he had previously been wearing.

By this time, Chevron had explored every nook and cranny of the small guestroom. To his vast disappointment, there was nothing of interest or particular value to be found. Heaving a small sigh of frustration and boredom, he leaped up to the bed and curled up for a short nap. Jinx did not sleep, staring off into space in the eerie manner of Murkrows.

After Tobias had finished cleaning his old set of clothes, he returned to the bed, where he sat, guidebook open on his chest, trying to study the section on fire-types and their attacks. The dry, informative words slid out of his head, obscured by nerves and anticipation. He couldn't concentrate on the page as waited anxiously for two o'clock to arrive.

At last, the hour drew near, and a red-robed acolyte appeared at the door to shepherd Tobias to his challenge. The guide rose to his feet excitedly, Jinx fluttering over to his head and Chevron, anticipating action at last, leaping down to mill about his feet. Tobias followed the acolyte up several more flights of stairs. At last, he was ushered into a bare wooden room, its floor marked with the traditional battle boundaries.

Tobias stepped nervously into the currently empty room. The floor of the arena was covered in a light layer of cushioning sand. Presumably, Tobias would have to best some of the temple's acolytes before being permitted to face its master. He stood nervously at the boundary nearest him, assuming that it was the challenger's position. He kept his gaze fixed on the door at the opposite side of the room, awaiting his opponent. At last it swung open to admit a boy of about thirteen, his red hair growing into an erratic, spiky halo. "I am your first test," he announced. "This will be a one on one battle. Select your Pokemon."

Tobias looked over his fighters, sizing them up. "I choose Chevron," he announced, deciding to lead with the Zigzagoon in hopes that he would be able to win this fight and bolster the Pokemon's confidence. Chevron bounded forward and out onto the sandy arena.

The acolyte reached for the chime hanging at his belt and rang it once, calling upon a dazed-looking Pokemon. The small creature stared across at Chevron with dull, disinterested eyes, twitching its short ears. "I choose Numel," the acolyte announced. "Numel, ember."

The camel-like Pokemon didn't appear to be following the command as Tobias issued his. "Headbutt, Chevron!" His heart leapt as he anticipated an easy battle against the apparently slow-witted Numel.

Chevron lunged, head down, at the Numel's midriff. Meanwhile, the small volcano-like hump on his back hiccupped once, uncertainly. Chevron rammed into the Pokemon's side just as a sudden gush of small flames burst from his hump. The ember attack caught Chevron's back as it began to rain back down, most of the small tongues of flame hissing out in the sand. The Numel barely rocked in response to Chevron's fierce attack, firmly planted body absorbing its fury.

Chevron yelped and rolled frantically in the sand in an attempt to extinguish the flames that had begun to eat away at his fur. "Numel, magnitude," the acolyte called.

"Nuuuu…." the camel replied lazily, rising slowly up on his hind legs, preparing to bring its front legs back to the ground. Chevron rolled quickly to his feet and tackled the camel while it was balanced on its hind legs, catching it in its midriff. The stocky Pokemon overbalanced and toppled over backward, coming to rest on the dome of its hump.

Its four short legs waved about in the air as the Numel tried to right itself. Chevron backed off, but the acolyte, seeing that the Numel would be unable to continue, recalled it. "Congratulations," he told Tobias. "I wish you luck with your next test."

Chevron gave a joyful "Zigzagooooon!" and leapt back over to Tobias's side of the field, bounding up to his guide in a crazy pattern of intertwining stripes and burned patches. Tobias bent down to meet him as the raccoon Pokemon leapt into his arms.

"Good job, Chevron!" he congratulated the ecstatic Pokemon. "You won! Can you believe it? You won!" Even Jinx looked mildly impressed, leaning down from his perch to caw at the Zigzagoon.

Their celebration was short-lived, however, as another temple acolyte appeared through the door opposite Tobias. Tobias recognized him to be around Alex's age, perhaps fifteen or so. He had no chimes attached to his belt, his two Pokemon following him in instead. Tobias's eyes swept over the opposing pair. The first was a Growlithe, confidently striding over to the edge of the arena. After it floated a Pokemon that Tobias had never seen before.

It was composed entirely of eerily dancing flames, its will-o-wisp head sending a jet of fire out behind to form its thin, wavering body that ended in a plume of bright red-orange fire. From its body sprouted two skeletal wings of flame, not beating as the Pokemon drifted over next to the Growlite, eerie black eyes staring intently at Tobias and his Pokemon.

"I am your second test," intoned the acolyte. "As the purpose of guiding is to direct your Pokemon's growth, not to smother their talents, this two-on-two battle will be fought without instructions from either guide. Pokemon will act of their own accord rather than responding to commands. I choose to open with Growlithe." The puppy Pokemon bounded out onto the opposite side of the arena.

Tobias looked to Chevron nervously, wondering if he should open with the already-injured Pokemon. The Zigzagoon growled confidently and darted forward to take up his place. "Begin," called the acolyte.

Both Growlithe and Zigzagoon barreled towards each other. The puppy reached out to snap at Chevron, gleaming teeth exposed. Chevron darted around them and rammed the Growlithe in his foreleg, causing him to trip and slide ungracefully in the sand. He twisted his head around and replied by spitting a cloud of glowing embers at Chevron, setting his tail alight.

The Zigzagoon yelped, beating his tail out on the sand. The Growlithe recovered and inhaled, preparing to fire another burst of fire. Anticipating this, Chevron spun around and kicked out with his hind legs, propelling sand from the arena floor into his opponent's face. The startled Growlithe choked, spitting out sand instead of flames. He tried to focus on the Zigzagoon, but he could barely see through he madly watering eyes. Chevron took advantage of this and lunged again, catching the Growlithe in his shoulder with a Headbutt. The Growlithe snapped at him, sinking his teeth into one of the Zigzagoon's hind legs.

The pair toppled over and became a confusing blur of dizzying brown stripes and red fur, flashing teeth and fire. When the two drew apart again, both were looking considerably worse for the wear. Chevron was limping and bleeding freely from several wounds, fur coat scorched. The Growlithe was covered in bruises and smaller cuts and scrapes from the frantic Zigzagoon's small teeth and claws. The Growlithe lunged to attack again, but Chevron brought him to a nervous halt with a menacing growl, followed by a lunging tackle. At last, the Growlithe toppled over.

Tobias grinned happily as Chevron rumbled "Zigzag! Zigzagoon!" The acolyte recalled his Growlithe without batting an eyelash.

"Next to fight is Demsindar," he announced, and the odd flaming Pokemon floated out onto the field. Tobias reached into his pack for his guidebook, intent on finding out about the strange and intimidating Pokemon.

Meanwhile, Chevron had decided to try another full-on charge. He flew down the field at the opposing Pokemon, ignoring his damaged hind leg. He leapt straight at the hovering creature-and right through it. He landed in a confused heap behind the Pokemon, which floated around to stare down at him, eerie eyes mocking.

This made Tobias gulp and leaf through the book faster. At last he found the Pokemon's entry, and what he read there did not make him feel particularly at ease about it.

_Demsindar, the fire soul Pokemon. Types: Fire and Ghost_

_Demsindar, the evolved form of Whispo, hovers above the ground without the aid of its new wings. These Pokemon are said to be able to see through their opponent's soul with their strange eyes. For unknown reasons, these Pokemon and their evolved form, Spirfargio, congregate at the summit of Mt. Vernalik whenever a meteor shower occurs._

If it was a ghost-type, then there was no way that Chevron could possibly hope to win against it. All of his attacks were normal-type, which would flow right through the insubstantial Demsindar. "Return, Chevron," Tobias commanded, pulling the Zigzagoon's chime off of his belt and ringing it. "Jinx, you're up."

The Murkrow obediently sped into battle, not waiting to attack. His sudden charge startled the Demsindar, causing it to dip a bit in the air as it hastily backed up. Jinx pressed the attack, lashing out with his beak at the insubstantial flames that made up the Pokemon's body.

The Demsindar had recovered, though, and gracefully hovered out of the way of Jinx's beak. The flames in its tail roared higher as it prepared for a fire-type attack. Tobias bit his lip, hoping that Jinx would recognize the threat. The Murkrow did, but wasn't fast enough at turning to avoid it. Demsindar flapped its skeletonized wings once, sending a cascade of small flames after the Murkrow, singing his left wing and side. Jinx squawked angrily and swept around, beak slicing through the Demsindar's extended right wing. The tip of it separated from the Pokemon's main body and swirled away into nothingness. The Demsindar unleashed an angry sound that mimicked the sizzling of meat in a frying pan, and turned to track Jinx's movements.

The Murkrow maneuvered to attack again, beak at the ready. The Demsindar's black eyes narrowed, white irises suddenly flickering red. A chunk of spectral flame burst from its body, glowing an eerie blue-white and drifting towards the Murkrow, who had begun to accelerate in his opponent's direction. It connected with the Murkrow, who nevertheless sent his beak to jab through the misty form of the Demsindar. As he flapped back to an attack position, however, it became clear that the will-o'-wisp had done its job. The feathers of his chest had been burned away, and he flapped slowly, as though pained by the burn.

Demsindar suddenly zoomed away, the movement eerie as it did not involve the flapping of its wings and did not cause the tongues of flame leaping up from its form to blow or flicker. It began to rush around the arena, knowing that the burn would sap Jinx's strength and it only had to keep away from him until the Murkrow gave in and collapsed.

At first, Jinx tried to follow, flying as quickly as he could after the darting phantom. This soon proved futile, and he stopped, hovering above the center of the arena, to think. He seemed to concentrate, red eyes narrowing, then gave a sudden clap of his wings. A tendril of dark energy burst from his black plumage, coiling across to latch onto the speeding Demsindar's tail. The ghost-type tried to pull away from the dark anchor, but this only served to tear away at its own form as the pressure on the dark tendril drove it deeper into its body.

Demsindar gave a final tug against the attack and then gave in, sinking slowly to the arena floor. The acolyte recalled it, the white mist that it dissolved into struggling against the dark line before successfully returning to its chime, the dark beam collapsing as it lost its hold. Jinx landed heavily on the arena floor, panting. Tobias dashed over to him. "Great job, Jinx. And a new attack! What was that?"

"Pursuit," said Tobias's former opponent. He, too, walked into the arena, a bag of herbs held out before him. "Use these to heal your Pokemon. When you are ready, go through that door, there," he pointed to a door that Tobias hadn't noticed before, set into the left wall of the chamber, "and take your final test. Good luck." With that, he disappeared the same way that he had come.

Tobias released Chevron and dosed both him and Jinx with the provided herbs. The pair was soon fully restored and eager to battle again. "All right, you two, this is it. Are you ready to win our first temple challenge?" he asked them. They gave a resounding chorus of assent, Chevron growling ferociously and Jinx cackling with excitement. Tobias allowed Jinx to return to his favorite perch and turned to the door in the wall. Pulling it open, he was assaulted by an enormous gush of blistering air, carrying with it the spicy scent of smoke.


	9. Thomas Goldspur

Author's Notes: Thank you all for reviewing! And no, VulpixTrainer, there are no Vulpix or Ninetales in Waytar. And if you wanted to try your hand at drawing some Waytarian Pokemon, YellowspottedLizard, then go ahead. I'd be interested to see how different people envision my Pokemon. And yes, Tobias does his homework…or tries to, at least.

And yes, I suppose that you could say that the people are after Jinx because of a prophecy, but it's a little different than that, Facia. Indeed, Tobias is the first to get a Murkrow starter in quite a while. Funny, I don't believe I've ever heard of a Murkrow guide before, but there are a few recorded in the master guides' registers from years past. I wonder why that is? As for Spirfargio, I actually have drawn that fellow out. Think larger will-o'-wisp head, two large wings of multiple layers of flame and a long, constantly swirling tail.

As for that rune-covered rock that Tobias found a while back, I guess Tobias must have forgotten about it. Undoubtedly he'll find it again some time when he's cleaning out his pack.

**Chapter Nine: Thomas Goldspur**

The room beyond the door was dimly lit by a sullen red glow, as of hot coals in an oven. Tobias took a step forward with the uncomfortable feeling that he was walking into a massive furnace. The sheer heat of the room was enough to cause sweat to break out on his skin almost instantaneously, combining with the scent of smoke that wafted out with the heat to make it seem difficult to draw breath.

Chevron looked decidedly reluctant to follow his guide into the burning room, his heavy fur coat not well-suited to such a hot environment, but he caught Jinx staring down at him with a goading, self-satisfied air that caused the Zigzagoon's spiky coat to bristle and him to dart around Tobias's legs and into the room first.

As Tobias's eyes adjusted to the gloom, he saw that the reddish glow emanated from the uniform lines of red-hot coals that were laid down upon the sandy floor. They formed a long battle arena, presumably the area where Tobias and his Pokemon would be competing. Apparently, a ring-out in this challenge would be very painful. At the other end of the arena, nearly out of sight in the blistering gloom, stood a tall, shadowy figure.

Catching sight of the unruly mane of red hair, Tobias recognized it to be, unsurprisingly, Master Dewshiver. The master spoke as he saw Tobias take his place at the challenger's side of the arena. "Welcome, challenger Tobias. I am your final test; past me lies your first temple certification. Are you prepared to begin?"

"I'm ready," Tobias replied, trying to keep the nervousness from his voice. On cue, the torches affixed to the room's walls suddenly burst to life, their dancing flames finally illuminating the arena fully. Tobias stared around in wonder; he could not see what had lit the torches.

"This will be a two-on-two battle," announced Master Dewshiver. "I call on Geifle!" He pulled a chime out from beneath one of the folds in his red robes and rang it commandingly. A small Pokemon appeared on the sand, already sinking into a battle crouch. Tobias stared at it uncertainly. It was one of the most bizarre Pokemon that he had ever seen. Quadrupedal, with two large, blobbish toes and an ugly, squashed snout from which protruded huge nostrils, it put him in mind of a stocky lizard that had run full-on into a brick wall. It regarded him with beady eyes, a gush of white steam from its large nostrils nearly obscuring the short, flat-topped horn that rose from its head.

"I choose Chevron," Tobias announced. As the Zigzagoon moved to take up its place in the arena, he was already pulling out his large guidebook. "Use headbutt, Chevron!" he ordered, flipping through the pages as he did so.

"Smokescreen, Geifle!" Master Dewshiver ordered. As Chevron charged, the bizarre Geifle drew in a deep breath, letting it out through her massive nostrils in the form of a dense black cloud. Chevron found himself engulfed in the dark smoke and came to a halt, coughing and wheezing, eyes watering freely.

"Tackle," Master Dewshiver ordered.

"Chevron, use sand attack to keep it away from you," Tobias called. Chevron responded by kicking sand into the roiling blackness that surrounded him. The Geifle barreled out of the smoke and smote him fiercely in the side, earning a faceful of grit. Meanwhile, Tobias had found the Geifle's entry.

_Geifle, the geyser Pokemon. Type: Fire_

_The Geifle's horn is actually a hollow spout from which regularly gushes a stream of boiling-hot water. This Pokemon is prized by teamakers as its eruptions provide clean, boiling water at very exact intervals. The Geifle is a rare creature, perhaps because it requires access to hot springs in order to survive._

"Sand attack again, Chevron," he yelled across to his fighter. "Try to blind it!"

Chevron was only to happy to oblige, sending more and more sand into the face of his attacker. The Geifle valiantly tried to follow her guide's commands, but she was nearly blinded by the sand grains lodged in her eyes. She spewed another cloud of smoke, but Chevron was already too close, barreling straight at her. His headbutt connected, sending her flying out of the cloud. Chevron pounced on the unprotected opponent and finished her with a quick tackle attack.

Tobias was feeling considerably heartened; that battle had not been too terribly difficult. Still, it wouldn't do to celebrate yet. Tobias knew what the master of the temple would send out next. Indeed, after recalling the fallen Geifle, Master Dewshiver roared, "Go, Torkoal!"

The stocky red tortoise appeared in the arena, wreathed as always by a cloud of whitish smoke. Chevron growled warily at it. The Torkoal merely gazed serenely back, blowing twin puffs of smoke from its nostrils. "Headbutt, Chevron," Tobias commanded.

"Torkoal, overheat," Master Dewshiver ordered calmly. His Torkoal closed its eyes in deep concentration, the red patches on its shell beginning to glow. Chevron continued to speed determinedly down the field, prepared to slam into his opponent.

As the Zigzagoon drew near, the Torkoal began to expel flames from numerous orifices, including the main vent in the top of its shell and its nostrils, the billowing white smoke now exchanged for dancing flame. As Chevron leapt purposefully at him, his eyes flew open. "Kooooaaallll!!!" he bellowed, and Chevron suddenly found himself leaping straight into a wall of flame. He tried to twist aside but only succeeded in exposing his entire right side to the fire. The Torkoal gushed flame from nose, mouth, back, and shell, becoming entirely wreathed in fire. The raging column of flame that rose from it flew outward and dissipated, leaving Chevron to smolder on the arena floor.

"Chevron, are you all right?" Tobias called anxiously. Chevron stirred and weakly rose back to his feet. The fur all along his right side was horribly charred and blackened, the skin beneath blistered.

The Torkoal still stood, planted firmly where it had been before. "Torkoal, curse," Master Dewshiver commanded in a flat tone, as though his Torkoal had just done nothing more incredible than sneeze. The Torkoal glowed white in response, its shell and limbs thickening perceptibly. As it faded back to its normal ruddy hue, however, Tobias noted that the white smoke that was once again wafting from its shell vent seemed less dense than before, the gushes regularly issuing from its nostrils less intense, as though its inner fire was somehow diminished.

Tobias didn't have long to think about this however; Chevron needed a command. "Try and tackle it, Chevron," he encouraged. Chevron tried to comply, but he seemed to be having difficulty running for some reason. His short legs slid out from under him, small claws seeking in vain for purchase on the arena floor. Tobias blinked and squinted at the field. To his consternation, it glittered faintly by the light of the wall-mounted torches; Torkoal's attack had turned much of it to glass!

"Finish this, Torkoal!" Master Dewshiver yelled, at last allowing some emotion to creep into his voice. "Smog!"

"Quick, get out of there, Chevron!" Tobias cried desperately. Chevron ran as fast as he could away from the inhaling Torkoal, scrabbling frantically along the now-slick floor, but it was in vain. The Torkoal gushed a cloud of foul-smelling smoke from its mouth and back. The purple-tinted cloud engulfed the struggling Zigzagoon. He coughed and wheezed helplessly, collapsing as he gasped for breath in the haze of pollutants.

"Return, Chevron," Tobias ordered quickly, ringing the Zigzagoon's chime. As Chevron was retrieved from the dissipating cloud of smoke, he called out, "Jinx, you're up!"

Jinx flapped confidently onto the field. "Krooww! Murmurkrooww!" he challenged.

"Jinx, use peck!"

"Torkoal, curse again and smokescreen."

The Torkoal obliged, ignoring the Murkrow now speeding at it and glowed with an eerie light once more, reinforcing its shell and skeleton once more. Jinx struck it a glancing blow on the shell that sent sparks fountaining up from the point of contact but didn't appear to harm the tortoise at all. It responded by gushing a cloud of thick black smoke just as the Geifle had minutes ago. Jinx fluttered up above the roiling cloud. "Just blow it away, Jinx."

"Curse."

Jinx flapped hard, his small wings not as well-suited to the task as those of a member of the Pidgey family, but dissolving the thick smoke nonetheless. The precaution was almost unnecessary as the Torkoal showed up even through the cloud, glowing once more. Once the air was fairly clear, Tobias decided to go on the attack once more. "Now try to use peck again, but go for its head this time," he suggested.

Jinx dove to oblige. Instinctively, the Torkoal moved to withdraw its head beneath the protective shell. The repeated thickening of its bones without a comparable increase in musculature made it a slow task, however, and the tortoise was soon beset by the small black bird. Jinx opened numerous wounds on it head and neck as it squirmed, trying to protect its face. "Ember, Torkoal!" Master Dewshiver ordered.

The Torkoal blew a cloud of small flame out of its nostrils at Jinx. The Murkrow pulled away, not severely damage but singed all the same. Tobias was surprised; the ember attack had appeared much less strong than he had expected. As Jinx circled over his opponent once more, Master Dewshiver moved to try to end the match. "Overheat, Torkoal," he commanded.

"Jinx, astonish," Tobias ordered, desperate to try to prevent the powerful attack. The Torkoal once more closed its eyes and concentrated. It opened them as before and bellowed "Tooor--erk!" It had come face-to-beak with Jinx, who had been at that point a mere six inches from contact. The Torkoal choked on its fiery attack, which turned more into a flaming hiccup. Jinx swept past, raking the tortoise with his talons as he passed.

The Torkoal was beginning to flag, bleeding freely from numerous gashes in his face. He turned his head to follow the progress of the Murkrow, partially blinded by his own blood. "A couple more good pecks should finish it off, Jinx," Tobias encouraged.

Jinx dived once more. Torkoal responded by firing off a mushroom cloud of flame from his shell vent. It caught Jinx on the tip of his left wing, buffeting him off course. He crash-landed on the hardened arena floor and slid to a stop, hopping back up and lunging for the Torkoal. Working quickly, he dispatched of the Torkoal with a quick volley of pecks. The fire tortoise groaned and slumped forward, Master Dewshiver recalling him.

The master of the temple proceeded to walk around the arena to congratulate Tobias as Jinx fluttered tiredly back to his guide. "You guide battle well, Tobias," Master Dewshiver congratulated him, extending a hand, which Tobias shook. "Your Pokemon do well to put their trust in you," the master continued. "In recognition of your fine skill at guiding, I am pleased to offer you the certification of the fire temple. The presentation of your awards will occur today at dinnertime. Until then, however, allow this to be your reward, along with the satisfaction of a battle well fought." He reached into a hidden pocket in his red robes and drew forth a pouch that jangled as it fell into Tobias's hand. "You can go and rest in your room for a while; dinner will begin at five thirty tonight," Master Dewshiver told him, smiling at the look of awe on Tobias's face as he hefted his monetary winnings. As the master of the temple turned to leave the room by the door on the far side of the field, he stopped and turned back, adding as an afterthought, "It might be wise to rest in the interim period. You have another long night ahead of you."

The ominous phrase was largely lost on the elated guide. An acolyte who must have been lurking outside, waiting for the fight to end, scurried in and offered Tobias several healing herbs, which he accepted gratefully. Jinx was too happy even to grimace as he choked down one of the sprigs of bitter leaves, energy beginning to seep back into this small frame. Tobias sent out Zigzagoon and applied a burn-healing poultice to his damaged pelt. He churred happily as the cool salve covered his exposed skin.

"We won, Chevron! Our first temple challenge!" Tobias told the Zigzagoon ecstatically, though he spoke more to enjoy the phrase at last emanating from his own mouth than to inform his Pokemon, who had already guessed this by the wide grin worn by his guide and the pleased expression borne by the Murkrow. He chirped delightedly and allowed himself to be scooped up by his guide, the healing herbs already beginning to do their work.

Tobias left the final challenge room, startled as he emerged into what seemed a cool outer area. He had utterly forgotten about the devastating heat while engaged in his battle, too absorbed in the conflict to pay attention to secondary concerns. He was surprised, therefore, to find his new shirt already soaked with sweat, his brow slick. Resolving to have one last bath before he left, he departed the room on a cloud of elated disbelief. An acolyte who smiled knowingly remained at his shoulder, gently nudging the guide in the right direction as they navigated the confusing corridors and staircases of the temple. Without his help, Tobias, who wasn't paying any attention to the matter at hand, would probably have walked into a wall or tumbled down a staircase that impudently appeared just beneath his dreaming feet.

Once back in his room, Tobias followed Master Dewshiver's advice and gratefully collapsed onto the relatively comfortable bed. This time, Jinx showed no aversion to snuggling a bit, and Tobias fell into a refreshing slumber with both Pokemon on his chest. Pleasant dreams chased their way around his head, of sneezing Torkoals and massive trophies.

Jinx was not likewise affected, as his sleep seemed more troubled, the small black bird occasionally croaking uncomfortably in his sleep. He awoke first from his fitful slumber, flapping away to moodily perch on the bedpost, his momentary good cheer banished for his usual cynicism. Both Tobias and Chevron woke refreshed, however, some hour or so later. Tobias went to take another bath and change into one of his clean sets of clothes, while Chevron set about licking the caked burn salve from the fur that had begun to regrow as he slept. Though considerably shorter than most of the rest of his fur, the burned patches were at least not as painfully obvious as they had been before.

Tobias emerged from his bath wet and nervous he paced around the small room, hair dripping as he pondered. He didn't really know anything about temple certification. What was it that a guide was presented with, anyway? He couldn't remember. He dove into his faithful pack to retrieve his guidebook, opening it to the section on the master guide certification process. Here it was…

_A tower master is required to present to any victorious guides both a monetary and symbolic award of their achievement. Many temple masters will add an additional prize, such as a rune tablet or rare item,but this is not required. The certification of the particular temple is a medal bearing the temple's device, inscribed with the challenger's name on the back to prevent theft. A record is kept in the temple's archives should the physical representation of victory be lost or destroyed as proof of a guide's mastery…_

So he was to be awarded a medal, was he? Tobias wondered what he would do with it. Hanging it on his guide's belt would seem a little presumptuous, as it would be most susceptible to loss when in this position. No, better to keep it pinned to the inside of his pack or something of the sort. Perhaps later he could acquire a special mounting cloth for it.

It was not much longer before a temple acolyte once more appeared in the doorway to lead Tobias to the grand dining hall. His hair now dry, the nervous guide followed, Murkrow on head and Zigzagoon at side.

The hall was not very full, only the highest-ranked acolytes in attendance. Tobias caught a sooty smudge of black in amongst the reds and oranges of temple robes; Alex was there as well. As Tobias entered, Master Dewshiver, who was seated at the head of a long table of acolytes, rose. "And here is the conquering guide," he announced. The acolytes ceased their muted conversations to turn and peer curiously down the table at Tobias and his Pokemon.

Master Dewshiver beckoned Tobias forward, and he approached nervously. The acolyte's heads turned in unison, following his slow progress across the room. As he stopped before the master of the temple, he noticed the glinting object in the man's hand. He felt a surge of excitement as he realized that it was his certification medal. Master Dewshiver smiled and held the medal out to Tobias. "Congratulations, Tobias Talltree, you have been deemed worthy of the fire temple certification. Take this token as official recognition of your accomplishment. Also," the temple master reached into his robes and drew forth a flat, square object. "Take this rune slab as well. It will allow any one Pokemon to master the overheat technique." Tobias, overwhelmed, took the flat sheet of rock. Master Dewshiver smiled kindly down at him. "I would gladly invite you to join me at the head of the table, but there is someone else who has already requested your presence." He nodded over to the left. Tobias followed his gaze to see Alex, who gave a jaunty wave. Tobias thanked Master Dewshiver and headed over to join the thief for dinner.

There were two empty chairs on Alex's right, one for Tobias himself and one for Chevron. Alex's Siesta and Leger were seated to his left. Tobias seated himself next to Alex, wondering why the thief had wanted him at his table. He set the rune slab and medal on the table next to his plate. "So, you won against Master Deshiver, eh?" Alex asked him.

"Um, yeah," Tobias replied. That was fairly obvious, wasn't it?

"Not bad, not bad at all. You're pretty good, I'd guess. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. You see, Master Dewshiver thought that I could help you out a bit. Living on the wrong side of the law as I do, you know?"

Tobias nodded reluctantly. The food was being served, Tobias and Alex receiving some sort of soup and a red juice drink that Tobias was unfamiliar with. Chevron got some sort of berry mixture, and Jinx was left to pilfer food from surrounding plates, which he had no quarrel with. Chevron happily set about dispatching his dinner, sticking his face into the mush on his plate and chewing it down cheerfully. Leger regarded him with disgust and, with a decidedly holier-than-thou attitude, reached for the utensils that had been laid out before her. Wielding them deftly, she set about carving up her dinner, which was some sort of meat. "Anyway," Alex continued, spooning a bit of the soup into his mouth, "we agreed that it would be best if you left tonight. The sooner you're out of here the sooner you can be out of the guard's domain, you know? So I hope you're ready to go."

Tobias followed Alex's example and downed a spoonful of the warm soup. He choked as the substance burned horribly in his mouth, coughing and trying to spit the fluid back out. Alex chuckled at the pained expression on Tobias's face as he desperately reached for the glass of juice that had come with his dinner, downing it so quickly that he couldn't even taste it. "I see you approve of the cherifigy soup. Master Dewshiver's favorite, you know."

Tobias set the empty glass back down on the table. Though his tongue was no longer aflame, his throat still screamed in protest. "Is…is that what it is?" he croaked. "How can you eat that stuff?"

Alex shrugged, grinning widely and downing another spoonful without batting an eyelash. "Dunno, but if you want to cool it down a bit you might want to try a bit of this," he reached for a stone shaker sitting in the middle of the table. "Apply liberally," he advised. Tobias obliged, shaking what he thought might be half of the container into his soup bowl. When he tentatively tried another spoonful the soup was only pleasantly spicy rather than tooth-incineratingly so. He put the shaker back out on the table and reached for the pitcher of juice to refill his glass.

"Anyway, where was I?" Alex wondered. "Oh, yeah. You'll be leaving after you're done with dinner here and you've grabbed all of your stuff. There's a back gate to the temple that leads right out into the Dakrill Forest. Now, if you keep on heading northeast once you hit the forest, you'll skirt right around the base of Mount Vernalik and eventually hit a little town called Washbeach."

"Washbeach?" Tobias cut in. "I've never heard of it."

"I'm not surprised," Alex replied. To his other side, Leger, who had been struggling irritably with her knife and fork but still failing to make any dent in her tough meat, quietly extended her claws and tenderized it with several quick slashes before taking up her utensils once more and daintily forking the shredded meat into her mouth. "It's a tiny little port town on the edge of the Sunrise Ocean. The only reason that you should really go there is because it's the closest town that runs a regular ferry on up to Frostdown City."

"Why do I have to go to Frostdown City?" Tobias asked stubbornly.

"Look, kid," Alex sighed. "You can't stay here, and you sure as hell can't go back home. Mummy and daddy wouldn't be all that relieved to see you, would they? And you can't very well run off to some town around here, where all of the town guards have a description of you and your Pokemon. News travels slowly to Frostdown; even messenger Pidgeots have trouble getting over the mountains, you know. You take a little detour and pop up there for a couple of weeks, sail back down this way, and by the time you land back down here they'll have forgotten about you again. And did I mention the ice temple? There's only one place to go to see that, my friend."

"All right, all right," Tobias replied sullenly.

"You'll have to change your name, of course," Alex noted. "The guards might not know you on sight, but they'll know you by name. And if anyone asks you where you got the Murkrow, say that it's from the Darkill Forest; they live there."

"Change my name?" Tobias mused. What would be a good alias for himself?

"Master Dewshiver already recommended one, actually," Alex told him, jabbing his spoon at the medal lying on the table. "He even went and engraved it on that thing for you."

Tobias turned over the medal to find "Awarded to Thomas Goldspur of Firstseed by Charles Dewshiver, fire temple master" engraved on the reverse side. Thomas Goldspur?

"Thomas?" Alex asked as he peered at the medal as well. "Well, it could be worse, I guess. And you're still from Firstseed? I suppose that's just as well. If he had put you down as being from a different city and you met a person from there on your journey and obviously had no clue about the place, there could be trouble."

Tobias nodded slowly. Firstseed was a very small, close-knit village where everyone knew everyone else. If he happened to meet someone from his hometown while on the road, they'd be very interested to know how a certain boy that they'd never heard of and whose face they vaguely remembered came to be from their tiny hometown. Still, there wasn't really a better alternative. Alex set about finishing his dinner in earnest, and Tobias did the same in an absentminded fashion. Something was nagging at him, however, something that Master Dewshiver had said.

"Alex, why are you here at the fire temple?" he asked the thief.

"Hmmm?" the older boy replied, not really paying attention.

"Why does Master Dewshiver let you stay at the temple if he knows you're a thief?" Tobias persisted.

Alex paused, spoon halfway to his mouth. He sighed and lowered it back to the bowl. "He's a good guy, Master Dewshiver," he said. "He lets me stay because he feels sorry for me."

"Feels sorry for you?" Tobias asked surprise.

"Yeah," Alex replied. "I ended up on his doorstep a long time ago, ya know? And he sorta took me in."

"Why?" Tobias asked.

Alex looked reluctantly over at the younger guide. "Remember how I can talk all cultured and stuff?" he asked. Tobias nodded. "Well, that's because I came from a wealthy family. A very prominent, wealthy family, in fact. We lived…or they still live…out in Saltmarsh to the west. They were…less than pleased when I got Leger as a starter."

The Sneasel, hearing her name, took an interest in the conversation. Looking up from the few tatters of meat still remaining on her plate, she regarded her guide with an unreadable expression. "It was quite a fiasco," Alex recalled, eyes distant. "They got all riled up, talking about how I had disgraced the family name, getting a dark-type starter. And they threw me out, sent me away to fend for myself, you know? Renounced me on the spot. And so I ended up on my guiding journey with almost no money, no credibility, and a dark-type starter. Not a pleasant combination."

He drew complex patterns in his soup with the spoon, still staring idly away, then he suddenly turned to look earnestly at Tobias. "Don't believe all of that junk they spout in the history books about this being the "land of virtue and justice" and all that. This place is about as corrupt and prejudiced as it gets, I'll have you know. Life was tough for me back then and I didn't have anyone to turn to. When I eventually dragged myself over hear, I was damn near dead. It was the middle of winter, I didn't have enough money to buy any warm clothes or anything to eat, and no one would give me a job because they were all so afraid my evil Sneasel and I would murder them in their sleep and make off with all of their dough."

Tobias was stunned as he listened to the thief's bitter recitation of his life. Was that really what a person with a dark starter had in store for them? He shivered, hoping desperately that the same fate wasn't his lot in life. "So Master Dewshiver took me in and gave me some food, a bed, all of that. But I still couldn't get a job and I was loath to try my hand at guiding again. So I turned to thievery, of course," he continued, tone becoming bitter. "Just as they predicted, wasn't it? I bet they'd be right pleased, if they knew. But Master Dewshiver still keeps me around. He knows I don't steal from anyone but the corrupt bigots that run this place. I'm always willing to help a friend in need, as you know. And that's my story. Not a happy tale, is it?"

"No. I'm sorry," Tobias replied, stunned.

"'S nothing. Forget it," Alex grunted. The pair finished their soup in silence. As Tobias pushed the bowl away he felt a hand upon his shoulder. Looking up, he found himself staring into the stern visage of Master Dewshiver.

"I trust Alex has told you the plan?" he asked Tobias.

"Yes. I understand," Tobias responded.

"Good. Well, Thomas, you'd best be gathering up your things and getting a move on," Master Dewshiver observed. "I have taken the liberty of sending a lantern and some food up to your room to help you on the way."

At first Tobias wondered who Thomas was, but then he remembered his new name. "I guess so. Thank you for all of your help," he replied, standing up as the master of the temple stepped back.

"Good luck, Thomas," Master Dewshiver said. "It was a pleasure having you here, and a pleasure battling you as well. I believe that you may become a very talented guide. Go now, and may luck go with you."

Tobias bid Master Dewshiver and Alex farewell and gathered up the rune slab and medal before making his way back to his room, Chevron trailing along behind. As he shoved the stone slab into his backpack and carefully added the package of food with which he had been provided, he thought regretfully of the hot meals, warm bed, and most of all, warm bathes that he would be leaving behind. It would probably take him about three days to get through the Dakrill forest, if he remembered its size correctly. He sighed, shouldering his pack once more and taking up the lantern from where it had been set at the foot of his bed. It looked that he was off again just as he had begun to get comfortable.


	10. The Forest by Night

Author's Notes: Thanks for reviewing, as always. Not much else to say, except that my computer went down over the weekend and I need to get Chapter Twelve up by Wednesday, so there will be another chapter coming tomorrow…and the day after that. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy them!

**Chapter Ten: The Forest by Night**

Once outside the temple, Tobias made for the back gate as instructed. The temple quite literally backed up onto the Dakrill Forest, the trees therein stretching tentative boughs over the wall, crowding ever closer to the fiery building. This gate had no attendant, an aspect that made it perfect for quiet entries and exits--much like the one that Tobias was about to make. He pushed the gate open, noting how it swung easily on oiled hinges. Many people found this path convenient, it appeared. It was probably Alex's preferred method of entry. Stepping beyond the high wall that surrounded the temple, Tobias found himself almost immediately overshadowed by massive trees. Lifting the small lantern high, Tobias found that its range was disappointingly short, bathing him in a cheery glow but hardly illuminating the surrounding area at all, and painting what it did shed light upon in garish caricatures of shifting shadow.

Tobias sighed, covering most of the lantern so that only a narrow beam of light burst from it, illuminating the path that lay before him. If there were any other people wandering the woods at this hour, it would be best not to attract their attention, and a brightly glowing lantern would do much to advertise his presence. Taking a deep breath and trying to muster whatever courage he might have, Tobias set out along the rough trail.

Chevron was so intimidated by the towering trees and thick underbrush to either side of the path that he pressed close to Tobias's side rather than romping out to explore as he normally would. Having been born and raised on the plains, he was used to being able to see in all directions, impeded only by the tall grass, not caged in by grasping boughs and catching briars. Naturally, Jinx felt right at home. He took flight cheerfully, hopping from branch to branch above as Tobias walked carefully below. Occasionally he would leave entirely, off on some unknown errand.

Tobias soon began to forget his fear of the forest, chill and weariness soon flooding in to fill the empty space in his mind. The nights were still very cold at this time of the year, and his new clothes did little to protect him from the icy wind that regularly swept through the area, rattling through the still mostly naked tree branches. The path was muddy and treacherous from early spring rains, the ground thawing slowly and turning into an unpleasant layer of muck on top of cold solidity. As this was his second night of being deprived of sleep, Tobias soon found his concentration wavering. He had difficulty lifting his feet, walking with head bowed and lantern held high to illuminate as much of the ground as possible. It was for this reason that he did not notice the eyes.

Incredibly large, nearly an inch and half in diameter, they shone out in the darkness with an eerie blue glow. Jinx had departed on one of his runs to an unknown location, leaving the treetops unguarded. Watching the guide with interest and perhaps a hint of malice, the lamplike eyes bobbed among the tree branches, the only sound heard as a result of their passing an occasional small scrabbling, as of claws on wood, and the creaking of limbs, easily mistaken for the wind. Chevron, preoccupied with cares more down to earth, was no more aware of them than his guide. Nose to the ground, he was sniffing it with intense interest. Numerous Pokemon unknown to him inhabited this place, leaving tantalizing trails of scent behind.

Indeed, it might have been that Tobias would never have become aware of the eyes' presence before their owner attacked or fled were it not for Jinx's sudden return. The Murkrow fluttered back to perch on a nearby tree branch, peering down to make sure that his guide was still intact. As it appeared that all was in order, Jinx hopped forward onto the next branch, only to find it occupied.

Rather than landing upon a rough, solid tree branch he crashed into something soft and warm, something that recoiled at the contact. Suddenly, two huge blue orbs appeared before him, the soft thing shoved him away contemptuously, and Jinx found himself suddenly falling backwards. Still dazed by the sudden appearance of the huge, lamplike eyes, it took Jinx a moment to catch himself. As he did so, he started up a racket loud enough to have woken every hibernating Ursaring from there to Glitterpeak. Tobias whirled around, instinctively locating his Pokemon's cry. Jinx was fluttering down to earth, still screeching like mad, and there hovering over him was one, no, two, now three pairs of huge, glowing eyes!

Tobias froze, cold forgotten as adrenaline began to surge through his veins. The trio of Pokemon, for he assumed that was what owned the three sets of eyes, shifted their glare from the Murkrow to the guide. Tobias gasped and backed away as a keening shriek emanated from their direction. Tobias wildly swung the lantern at them in hopes of discovering what sort of creature they belonged to. The thin shaft of light swept across the eyes, causing them to disappear as suddenly as they had come, as though the meager glow was enough to harm them. Tobias caught a flash of brown fur, the quick movement of a clawed foot, and then the creatures were out of the illuminating lantern light. Tobias, beginning to calm down some, swung the light back and forth across the trees, but could not discover where the Pokemon had run to.

Jinx was clearly not satisfied by their disappearance, however. He fluttered up into the treetops once more, red eyes piercing the darkness far more effectively than the meager lantern. "Are they still here, Jinx?" Tobias called. The Murkrow swiveled his head around the area once more for good measure, then nodded slowly.

Tobias stared apprehensively around. What were those three Pokemon? He shivered, and not entirely from the cold this time. Taking one more nervous look around, he turned and started down the path once more, this time more alert. Jinx followed above, putting any further excursions on hold as he patrolled the area around his guide diligently, peering out into the darkened woods on either side of them.

Time passed, and nothing else out of the ordinary happened. Tobias's strength, temporarily bolstered by fear, began to seep away again. Chevron, however, was only just working up to his fully energetic state. Growing bolder, he ranged farther and farther away from guide and fellow teammate, occasionally darting into the undergrowth. Tobias was too weary to keep very good track of the Zigzagoon's movements, trusting him to take care of himself. He began to plod along in a near stupor once more, thinking only of the next few feet and longing to be at his destination, or at least somewhere warm where he could lie down and rest.

Suddenly, there was a loud growling from the brush to the side of the path. Jinx crowed loudly and dived down to see what the commotion was, only to be knocked backwards by Chevron, who came hurtling through the air as though thrown by some invisible opponent. Tobias, revived once more, moved to shine the lantern in the direction that the Zigzagoon had been catapulted from, only to have the light within suddenly go out! Plunged into near total darkness, Tobias felt terror welling up as the six sinister eyes reappeared amongst the bushes, seeming even larger and more malevolent in the lack of light. "G-get it Jinx!" he stuttered in panic.

Jinx flapped forward to oblige as the three Pokemon moved out onto the path. Tobias squinted at them, trying to make out their forms, but the sparse light of the weak, sickly-looking moon that hung in the sky cast more shadows than light. He had the impression that they must be about as tall as his knee, but that was about all that he could discern. Then, moving with amazing precision and coordination, all three Pokemon darted out of the way of Jinx's attack and retaliated. Tobias could make out only the Murkrow's red eyes and the shadow of his bright yellow beak and legs, but he could tell that he had taken a hit in return by his indignant cry and sudden swerve. The other Pokemon were maneuvering around to strike again, remaining in perfect formation, and Tobias noted that they deliberately stayed in the shadows, avoiding the moonbeams at all costs. Jinx dove to try and attack again, then suddenly froze in midair as the eyes suddenly glowed a baleful yellow. Jinx lost his nerve and pulled up short, only to be battered backwards by some sort of counterattack.

"Come on Jinx, you can do it! Don't let them scare you!" Tobias called from the sidelines, trying not to let fear leak into his voice. Jinx crowed resolutely in response, diving forward to attack again. He must have struck, for the action caused a keening screech that set Tobias's teeth on edge. The eyes darted away, appearing to gather themselves for a strike, only to be hit again by another unseen Pokemon. Chevron, deciding that three against one was not a fair fight, had joined the fray, apparently hitting with a sand attack.

He must have not hit directly, because two of the Pokemon didn't seem to have been affected, but the tallest had apparently taken the attack, for its eyes suddenly began to wink on and off rapidly, as though it were blinking desperately to rid its large eyes of the grit. Jinx and Chevron took the opportunity to attack together, and the three Pokemon found themselves beset by an angry Murkrow and a valiant Zigzagoon. They soon began to flag, lashing out at one opponent only to be struck by the other. Two pairs of eyes disappeared suddenly, and Tobias assumed that their owners must have fled. Only the tallest Pokemon remained now, battling desperately against its two irate opponents. Then it, too, turned tail and fled away.

Though he was not thankful that it had decided to attack him in the dead of night, Tobias was loathe to see it get away. After all, here was a Pokemon that he had never even heard of. Why not try to capture it while he had the chance? If he didn't, he'd never get a good look at the creature and might never find out what it was. "Jinx, don't let it get away! Use pursuit!" Tobias called, reaching for the empty chime that still hung at the belt around his waste.

He couldn't see the beam of dark energy that the Murkrow sent to wind around the fleeing foe, but he heard a thump, as though something had been pulled down out of a tree, and thrashing in the undergrowth that put him in mind of a pinned creature trying desperately to escape. He rang the chime with the command of "Capture!"

The chime's echo resounded throughout the still forest, causing Tobias to wince. If there was anyone nearby, they would certainly know that he was here now. What did it matter after Jinx's outburst, anyway? He could make out the mist that the Pokemon had been converted into, glimmering as it slid through the weak moonbeams on its way to the chime. Soon the bronze device began to shudder violently, the runes etched on its exterior dancing with light and flickering erratically. Violent tremors rocked the chime, sending further jarring notes into the night air. Grasping it firmly, Tobias began to grow worried. Shouldn't the capture be complete by now? Still, the Pokemon struggled against its bonds, refusing to surrender. At last, however, the trembling died down, the chime's violent outbursts silenced.

Tobias heaved a gusty sigh and lowered the now-occupied chime, hooking it back onto his belt. He didn't want to let his new Pokemon out just yet, when he wouldn't even be able to see it. Instead, he opened his pack and felt around in it. Shoving aside the familiar heaviness of his guide book, rooting between the pouches that held his herbs and berries, he delved down to the very bottom of it, where lay the items that he had not used yet. His fingers brushed a smooth metal surface that he assumed to be the compass with which he had been endowed. He pushed that aside as well, fingers falling at last upon his flint. Opening his darkened lantern, he struck a spark, trying to relight it. After numerous exasperating tries and more than one fervent wish that he had a fire Pokemon with him that would be able to do the job with ease, he at last managed to relight it.

Holding the once again lit lantern up, he prepared for another mind- and foot-numbing stroll through the dark woods. As he stepped forward, however, he heard a very unsettling noise.

It was the sound of a voice, a human voice, not too far from where he now was. Freezing, he covered the lantern completely, listening intently to try to discern whether the other traveler was friend or foe.

"Are you sure it was coming from over here?" the voice asked.

Something growled in response, a sound that put Tobias in mind of a very large, carnivorous creature. What's worse, he was positive that he recognized the voice.

"Yeah, well, who would be up at this hour? Sure, nighttime is always a good time to find nocturnal Pokemon, but most people intent on doing go a bit deeper into the woods where they actually live. And if it is some harmless guide, we've just got to ask him some questions and be off on our way."

More growling. The bottom dropped out of Tobias's stomach as he realized at last who the owner of the voice was: Seargeant Danklake, without a doubt. Tobias jumped and nearly cried out at a sudden weight on his shoulder. Six pinpricks of pain identified the culprit as Jinx, who had come in for a sudden landing. The bird muttered something urgent into Tobias's ear, then took off, circling in front of Tobias, red eyes watching him anxiously. He flew forward along the path a bit, then came flying back to hover in front of his guide, uttering further small noises. Tobias guessed that he wanted his guide to follow. Seeing as he really had no other course of action in mind, he obeyed, stepping cautiously to try to avoid tripping over any roots or falling into any sort of holes. He kept his ears open, however, and a nervous glance over his shoulder showed him another lantern, bobbing around the trees some distance behind.

"I can't believe I got stuck doing this," Sergeant Danklake grumbled irritably to his companion, whom Tobias guessed must be the Arcanine Defender. "That little stuck-up kid sends us out crawling around the forest in the middle of the night on the off-chance that the Talltree boy might be skulking around for some reason. Honestly, if he wanted the job done, the brat should have gotten down off of his high horse and done it himself. I have more important jobs to do."

Jinx was growing more agitated, doing his best to spur Tobias onward. Tobias reluctantly increased his pace to a slow jog, doing his level best to be silent. He heard the sound of small paws nearby, confirming that Chevron was keeping up. Tobias ignored the further grumblings and growlings behind him, trying to put them out of his mind. Escape should be his first priority. Much to his horror, his foot was suddenly snagged on a root that bulged up from the ground. He managed to catch himself just short of falling, but the hasty move jarred his chimes and they gave voice with a disgruntled clanging.

"Wait! It's coming from over there!" the Sergeant cried excitedly. There was a great crashing in the bush as he and Defender made for Tobias.

Recovering as quickly as possible, Tobias began to run forward, no longer caring if he woke the entire forest with his thrashings. Jinx flew on ahead, occasionally cawing encouragement to his guide.

"Halt! Who are you?" yelled the Sergeant. "I command you to stop in the name of the Rareview guardsmen!"

The order only speeded Tobias along in his mad dash. He stumbled through dips in the ground, shoved unheeding through bushes, and nearly brained himself on a low-hanging bough. The bobbing lantern was gaining, inexorably drawing closer and closer to the fleeing guide. He tried to stay out of its erratically swinging beam, but had to concentrate more on his feet and his Murkrow. He thought distractedly that he seemed to have left the path, a fact that vaguely worried him, but not nearly so much as the thought of his demise or imprisonment. Who knew what would happen when the irate Seargant caught up with him?

He suddenly burst from the trees and into what appeared to be a large clearing. The darkness seemed to fall more heavily around here, swallowing up even the sound of Tobias's frenzied crashing. Still Jinx goaded him onward and through the clearing. Tobias was only too happy to comply, dashing across it as though his life depended on it, which it very well might.

He had only just barely reached the trees on the opposite side of the clearing when the lantern-toting pursuer broke through. Suddenly the clearing came to horrible life. A terrible cacophony of caws and cackles rent the night air, followed by a great rushing as of many wings. Tobias's pursuer yelled and threw the lantern's beam upward to illuminate a great cloud of Murkrow diving downward at the intruding human. He shrieked and turned to run, bumbling into Defender, who had come up behind him. Murkrow fell upon him in a great dark wave, tearing into the intruder with beak and claw.

Still more came, the trees relieved of their dark burden. Bird after bird descended, flapping after the retreating human, who was still yelling and shrieking as they continued to attack. There was a burst of flame as Defender retaliated, the fiery gush revealing that the Arcanine too was beset by dark forms. The sounds of battle were soon heard, growls and cackles that fell over one another in a confused jumble.

Tobias had been frozen through all of this, looking back in horror and relief. Jinx brought him back to reality by once again alighting on his shoulder. He apparently mistook Tobias's shock and horror for relieved gratitude, cackling in a pleased fashion. Further yells sounded in the distance, indicating that the Sergeant had made good time in his mad dash through the forest. "Jinx, did you tell them to do that?" he asked his Pokemon.

The Murkrow shook his head, the brim of his feathery "hat" obscuring his eyes. "They're-they're not going to kill him, are they?" Tobias asked in a small voice. Jinx was unresponsive, pondering. Then another head shake, accompanied by a rather nasty cackle.

Tobias gulped. "Jinx, that's not right! I don't like being chased after, but I don't want whoever the Sergeant to be killed or seriously injured either. After all, he was only doing his job. And especially not like that," he added, envisioning the hundreds of tearing beaks and talons.

Jinx merely turned to look at him blankly. He then leapt off of Tobias's shoulder again, fluttering to a tree branch overhead. He was no longer leading the boy forward, merely waiting to allow him to take the course that he wanted.

Tobias walked on for as long as he felt able, trying to put as much distance between himself and the horrible Murkrow grove as possible. At last he felt that he could walk no longer, sinking down against the trunk of a tree in exhaustion. Tomorrow he would dig out his compass to try to determine which way he should head and he'd have a look at the mysterious Pokemon that he had captured.

Unrolling his bedroll, he shivered beneath the sheets despite the warmth of Chevron, who had as usual crawled into be with his guide. Though he sank readily enough into sleep, he was tormented by nightmares of swarming darkness and disembodied claws that tore at him whatever way he turned. Jinx remained awake, red eyes piercing the darkness of the forest as though it were lit as bright as day.


	11. An Ally and Enemy Gained

Author's Notes: Okay, so I lied. As it turns out, chapter twelve was going to need to be split into two chapters to avoid disgraceful hugeness, and I figured that, as I woldn't be able to get the part that I was working up to posted anyway, I might as well just take a day off for editing. This chapter is the longest I've yet posted, so it took a long time…

Glad you enjoyed that last chapter, more suspense and mysteriousness will be coming shortly. Well, not shortly, actually. This is the last chapter that will be posted, as I'm going away for all of Christmas break and won't be able to throw anything up while I'm gone.

That being said, everyone have a merry Christmas, a happy new year, and a most relaxing and carefree break! See you in January!

**Chapter Eleven: An Ally and Enemy Gained**

Tobias awoke slowly, the sun already rising towards its noonday apex. Groaning, he reluctantly pushed back his dew-covered blankets. Jinx was nowhere to be seen, apparently having decided to seek breakfast for himself elsewhere in the forest. Chevron yawned and stretched, then irritably began to scratch an itch behind his left ear.

His conscious only barely restored, Tobias began to turn the previous night's events over in his mind, as though the bright sun might illuminate something new. Who had the sergeant been referring to as he complained about being pushed around by? It was a question he hadn't pondered much the night before, but now it began to bother him. Someone with a great deal of authority, obviously, and someone interested in seeing Tobias brought to justice…

The question was driven from his mind as the rumbling of his stomach reminded him that he had more pressing matters to attend to. Tobias rooted around in his pack until he came up with the food that Master Dewshiver had sent along with him. Unwrapping the parcel, he found that it contained some sort of traveling bread, very flat and rocklike in appearance. There were further strips of dried meat and numerous berries, which Tobias eyed with some suspicion. After his experience with the cherifigy soup, he figured that it would be to his advantage to check and make sure that these varieties weren't too spicy before he tried one.

As he was about to set about doling out breakfast to himself and Chevron, Tobias suddenly remembered the mysterious Pokemon that he had caught the previous night. He should let it out and identify it, not to mention heal it and offer it a bit of food as well. Reaching for his belt, he grasped the third bell and unhooked it. "Appear, Pokemon," he commanded, ringing it.

Tobias watched with interest as the billowing white mist solidified into a vaguely humanoid Pokemon. No sooner had it fully emerged, however, than it shut its huge eyes tightly with the nails-on-chalkboard screech that Tobias remembered from the night before. Its mottled brown pelt still bore the cuts and scrapes incurred from the previous night's scuffle, including several odd blackened areas that Tobias guessed must have been caused by Jinx's pursuit attack. Guiltily, he reached into his pack for some healing herbs. He noted that he was running low as he pulled a handful of them out and offered them to the Pokemon, which was still keeping its eyes tightly shut as though the morning sunlight burned.

"You want some of these?" Tobias asked kindly, holding the herbs near the Pokemon so that he assumed it could smell them. Sure enough, it reached out with a delicate paw and snatched them from his hand, chewing them down eagerly. As the stimulated healing process began, Tobias studied the unfamiliar creature with interest. It was now covering its face with its paws from which jutted long, knobbly fingers that ended in small claws. Its large ears occasionally twitched at the snapping of a twig or the rustling in the nearby brush as Chevron cheerfully investigated the area nearby. All in all, it seemed nervous, its lithe body jerking at particularly loud noises as though it desperately wanted to flee. Its thin tail, tufted with an odd lock of blue fur, was in constant, twitching motion. "It's all right, nothing's going to hurt you," Tobias reassured it, concerned by its actions. It merely shook its head, not removing the paws.

Tobias sighed and reached for his guidebook. He slowly flipped through the Pokemon profiles, looking for an illustration that matched the creature standing before him. At last he found it and read carefully.

_Tarsix, the six-eye Pokemon. Type: Psychic_

_One of the few truly nocturnal Pokemon, Tarsix's large eyes are extremely sensitive to light. As treetop dwellers, Tarsix use their small claws and opposable thumbs to carry them swiftly from place to place. Their heads can rotate nearly two hundred and seventy degrees, allowing them to see in almost all directions without reorienting their bodies. The four "eyes" on the Tarsix's body are actually false markings used to scare off predators. At night, the Tarsix uses its psychic energy to cause these patches to glow as do its actual eyes in order to convince opponents that they face three Pokemon rather than one. Very solitary and secretive, Tarsix live deep in forests and generally avoid contact with humans._

"Oh, you don't like the light!" Tobias realized. "I'm sorry. If you move back a little and to your left you should be a bit more in the shade. The Tarsix seemed to consider this proclamation for a moment, then slowly stepped backwards in the direction that Tobias had indicated. Tobias meanwhile studied its coat for the eyespots mentioned by his guide. Sure enough, there they were, four white patches standing out amongst the brownish fur. The Tarsix, having reached the shade, removed its paws and tentatively opened its eyes to slits, wincing as the sunlight struck them. Still squinting, it looked up to Tobias, a critical expression on his face.

"So you're a psychic-type, huh?" Tobias asked uneasily. The Tarsix merely continued to squint up at him. "You should be able to talk to me then, shouldn't you?" Tobias asked. "Telepathically, like most psychics?"

_Yes, _the Tarsix replied in a resigned tone. _So you are the guide of the Murkrow?_

"Errr, yes," Tobias replied, surprised by the question. He gasped in surprise as the Tarsix's head suddenly spun back and forth, so far that it was nearly looking directly behind itself as it studied the area, its eyes beginning to open a little wider as it grew used to the light.

_Where is the bird now? _it asked in an unfriendly tone.

"I don't know where Jinx is right now," Tobias replied. "He's one of your teammates now, you know."

The Tarsix's clawed paws flexed in an unsettling manner, the long, delicate fingers able to exert a surprisingly strong grip. _Indeed, _it acknowledged.

Tobias regarded the Pokemon with suspicion, looking back down at his guidebook. "It says here that Tarsix 'generally avoid contact with humans.' Why were you following me?"

The Tarsix, whose head had been swiveling unnervingly once more, returned its gaze to Tobias. _I take an interest in all humans that trespass in my territory, _it informed him.

"Whatever," Tobias sighed, not at all convinced. The words reminded him of something that Master Dewshiver had said. _They seem to have taken an unhealthy interest in you…_ He tried to avoid thinking too hard on the subject as he reached back into his pack and rooted around for the foot packet again. "Want some breakfast?"

_Yes, please, _the Tarsix replied, holding out a clawed paw imperiously. Fuming, Tobias dumped a few berries into it. He didn't like the Pokemon's attitude at all. He then remembered with horror the psychic-type's ability to look into the minds of humans and know their feelings. How would the Tarsix feel if it knew that he was already suspicious of it? He ought to at least give the Pokemon a chance. _And before you start thinking up some woefully cliché nick name for me, _the Tarsix said, chewing the berries down one at a time, _I should inform you that I am known as Accemenla._

"Err…right. Accemenla," Tobias agreed uncertainly. He was saved from asking any inadvertently rude questions about the Pokemon's name by Chevron, who had smelt the berries that his guide had given to the Tarsix and decided to reappear for breakfast. He spotted the new Pokemon immediately. Tobias watched tensely as he snuffled the Tarsix up and down, relieved that the Pokemon bore the inspection with nothing more than a haughty air. "This is Accemenla," Tobias informed Chevron. "He's your new teammate."

_She, _the Tarsix interjected in annoyance. _It's Accemen_la, _human._

"Oh. Sorry," Tobias replied. "And my name is Tobias, not 'human.'" Then, realizing his mistake, he added, "But call me Thomas."

Accemenla peered at him quizzically, then seemed to accept the name with a flick of her ears. _Thomas it is, then, _she agreed.

Chevron lost interest in the Tarsix and sauntered over to Tobias, begging for food. Tobias handed him some berries, which he munched down happily, then disappeared into the surrounding woodlands once more. "Well, I'm pretty much ready to go," Tobias told Accemenla. "Would you like to stay out of your chime?"

_In this? _she asked in disgust, gesturing at the sun as it shone cheerfully down from the clear sky. _I think not._

"Return, then," Tobias said, ringing her chime. As his new Pokemon dissolved into her chime once more, Tobias heaved a sigh. He had a feeling that Accemenla would not be the most genial of companions. Hopefully he would be able to assuage her apparent loathing for Jinx. Otherwise, he could very well end up with a divided team as the two battled it out for supremacy.

Speaking of Jinx, the Murkrow should have returned by now. Tobias stood, shouldering his pack. "Jinx!" he called. "Jinx, where are you?"

At first the woods were silent, save for the usual early-morning noises of Pidgeys chirping on concealed boughs and the distant droning of Beedrill. A "Murrrkrow!" split suddenly through the peaceful ambient noise. A moment later, Jinx appeared in the sky, flying low over the trees before dipping down to land on Tobias's head.

"Where have you been?" Tobias asked with mock severity.

"Krow. Krowwowow," Jinx replied cheerfully, clacking his beak.

"Breakfast?" Tobias asked, but Jinx only shook his head. Tobias guessed that the Murkrow had been out foraging. He didn't like to think what it was that Jinx had found; he was a carrion eater, after all. "Stay close, okay?" Tobias implored his Pokemon, who bobbed his head in acknowledgement.

Tobias set off then on what proved to be a pleasant stroll through the Dakrill forest. The dark, alien landscape of the previous night was gone, replaced by a verdant environment rife with life. Tobias encountered far more Pokemon here than he had on the plains, from the diminutive Caterpies that slowly inched up and down tree trunks to the fearsome Beedrill that valiantly defended their huge hives from intruding humans. Jinx was a constant presence, never straying out of sight for long, though unfortunately he returned with irate Beedrill trailing after him, having caught him trying to tear into one of their hives.

Aside from these encounters, which usually involved running like mad, the walk was far from strenuous or stressful. Tobias found ample opportunities to work on battling with Jinx and Chevron, though he was reluctant to use Accemenla, due to her dislike of sunlight. He was disappointed that he no longer had any empty chimes; he would have liked to have caught a Weedle, the earlier stage of Beedrill.

As the day wore on, however, Tobias noticed that Chevron was beginning to act strangely. He seemed to have developed a sudden, persistent itch that would cause him to stop whatever else he was doing and scratch the affected area vigorously. Tobias was worried that he might have picked up fleas, but he caught Chevron purposefully dragging his feet along the forest floor, as though even his footpads were irritated. Still, the Zigzagoon maintained his sunny disposition, bringing Tobias numerous berries and herbs which the guide gratefully added to his depleted stash.

At midday the group stopped for lunch, Tobias releasing Accemenla to dine with them. At the sight of the Murkorow, however, she bristled angrily. _You, _she snarled mentally.

The dislike appeared to be mutual. Jinx crowed "Mur! Mur murkrowww!" angrily, red eyes narrowed.

"Come on, you two," Tobias pleaded. "What's the problem? Can't you at least _try_ to get along?" The pair continued to glare at each other for several moments more, before Accemenla turned away from the Murkrow scornfully.

_As you wish, _she acquiesced in a sarcastic tone that made Tobias bristle as well.

Jinx stared murderously at the Tarsix's back before muttering something to himself and turning away, dismissing her as unimportant. Tobias resignedly doled berries out to his Pokemon, wondering why Accemenla and Jinx couldn't seem to get along. Psychic- and dark-type Pokemon were generally considered to be enemies, but Tobias just couldn't see why the Tarsix and Murkrow had such an enormous problem with one another. After all, they had only just met.

The cheerless luncheon was executed in cold, uncomfortable silence. Only Chevron seemed immune to the chilly atmosphere of distrust, munching his berries happily and occasionally pausing to scratch an itch. _I'm done, _Accemenla announced finally. Turning back to Tobias, she startled him by abruptly billowing into insubstantial mist, which returned to her chime as though he himself had recalled her. Tobias had never seen a Pokemon send itself back into its chime before, though he knew that they were prone to doing so. Chevron chirped excitedly, bounding back to his feet, clearly eager to be off. Jinx spread his wings, apparently intent on another excursion into the forest, but Tobias stopped him.

"Hang on, Jinx," Tobias said as he picked himself up. "Why don't you stay with me for a while? I want to talk to you." Jinx gave him a look of perplexed annoyance, but reluctantly flapped up to land on his guide's head. He peered down at Tobias from his perch, awaiting the conversation's beginning. "Look, Jinx, I know that you don't like Accemenla," Tobias began. Jinx cawed softly, rolling his eyes. "Come on, Jinx, what's your problem? I know that she doesn't like you, either, but the least you could do is try to get to know her a little better."

"Murrr. Krow mur mur krow," Jinx scoffed.

"Please, won't you at least try to get along with her?" Tobias pleaded.

Jinx was silent for several moments. At last, he nodded slowly. "Krowww," he sighed, then fluttered up into the treetops once more. Tobias took his answer to be a reluctant yes, and hoped that the situation might resolve itself once the pair got to know each other better.

The rest of the day passed in a pleasant enough manner, and as the evening shadows began to creep across the ground, Tobias thought that he might give Accemenla a try in battle. Spotting a likely Caterpie inching its way across the path, Tobias reached for her chime. "Go, Accemenla," he commanded as he rang the chime.

_Ah, now this is more like it, _Accemenla said in a satisfied tone as she took in the waning light of the forest. The Caterpie, seeing the foe, raised itself up on its rear legs in order to make itself look more threatening.

"Okay, Accemenla, I just want to use this battle as a test of your strength, okay?" Tobias asked. "What attacks do you know?"

_Leer, scratch, foresight, and confusion, _she replied, glaring down at her worm-like opponent menacingly. Suddenly, her eyes and eyespots began to glow with the same eerie blue light that they had on the previous night. The Caterpie, daunted, backed up slightly. _This will be easy, _she announced.

"Right, then. Try a scratch," Tobias suggested, praying that the Tarsix wouldn't act as snobby in battle as she did otherwise. Accemenla was no fool, however, and she had no problem with following the human's orders, so long as they would allow her to win the battle. She darted forward nimbly, claws at the ready. The Caterpie recovered and responded by firing a sticky strand at her legs, entangling them and causing her to stumble.

Off balance, she just managed to swipe at the Caterpie before being forced to halt her attack or risk falling. While she recovered, the Caterpie gathered its strength for a lunge. It ran straight at her, suction cup feet moving rapidly across the loamy ground. "Leer, Accemenla," Tobias suggested.

The Tarsix complied. As before, her eyes glowed yellow. The sudden change in color unnerved the Caterpie once more, causing it to halt warily. While it was still vulnerable, Accemenla dealt it another swipe with her claws. The Caterpie was sent sprawling to the ground. It recovered quickly, however, and charged at her enraged. Accemenla tried to dodge the attack, but the sticky string shot hampered her movements. As the Caterpie crashed into her side she tipped over at last, falling to the ground in a disheveled heap.

The Caterpie began its string shot again, apparently with the intent of gluing the psychic-type to the ground. Accemenla struggled to rise, but the strands were beginning to defeat her efforts. "Quick, Accemenla! Finish it off with confusion!" Tobias cried with a thrill of anticipation. He'd never seen the signature psychic-type move before, though he'd heard that it was fairly powerful.

Accemenla made no outwardly obvious gesture, but the Caterpie was suddenly thrown from her person and sent rolling along the ground, propelled by an unseen force. When it skidded to a halt at last, the will to fight had been completely battered out of it. Raising itself painfully back onto its suction cup feet, it undulated away into the underbrush at top speed. Accemenla resumed her attempts to peel herself off of the ground, efforts aided by her psychic powers. Once she had stripped most of the goop from her body, she stood back up and sauntered over to Tobias. "Excellent battle, Accemenla," he told her enthusiastically as she drew near.

_Thank you, _she replied smugly, her eyes fading back to their normal coloration. She shot a taunting glance at Jinx while Tobias wasn't looking, an act that infuriated the Murkrow. _I think I'll stay out for a bit, if you don't mind, _she told Tobias. _It's dark enough now, I think. _

"Sure, that's fine with me," Tobias agreed.

_Mind if I ride along? _Accemenla asked. Not waiting for an answer, she darted forward and leapt onto his back, scrabbling up it as though Tobias were just another tree. He yelped in surprise as her hooked claws dug into his skin. She finally reached a position that she was satisfied with, latched onto his pack as she surveyed the area, head constantly swiveling back and forth.

"Uh, sure," Tobias replied, though it was a little late for a refusal anyway. Jinx clacked his beak disapprovingly at the Tarsix, which clung onto the heavy-duty backpack like some sort of massive parasite. No one heard him, however, and the party forged through the woods once again.

Tobias put Accemenla through her paces throughout the evening and was pleased with what he saw. Though the Tarsix was still far less experienced than either Chevron or Jinx, she had a great deal of potential, or so the guide thought. Even Jinx grudgingly recognized her skill, though he would surely die before acknowledging it. Tobias was feeling considerably more cheerful at dinner time, despite the fact that he had only a strip of tough meat and a rocklike morsel of bread on which to dine. He had a third Pokemon who would surely make a powerful addition to his team.

Now, if only he could make her get along with Jinx. No open hostility had been displayed as the party members ate their meal in silence, but both Jinx and Accemenla were apparently exerting all of their discipline not to leap for each other's throats. As Tobias unrolled his blankets Accemenla announced, _I'm going to stay outside of my chime for the night. See you in the morning. _

She was gone almost immediately, leaping onto the trunk of the nearest tree and scrabbling up it rapidly, bounding along an outstretched branch and into the gloom of the forest. Jinx, as though to show how much more responsible he was, stayed perched above Tobias's head, standing guard as he had the night before. Once he was sure the boy was asleep, however, he too slipped quietly away into the night.

Tobias felt refreshed as he awoke on the second day of his journey through the forest. Jinx fluttered down to land beside him as soon as he began to move about, greeting him with a cheery "Krowww! Krowwoww!"

"Good morning to you, too," Tobias replied with a smile. "Already had breakfast?"

Jinx nodded, but Chevron chirped loudly to remind Tobias that he still needed feeding. As Tobias rummaged for the berries in his pack, he wondered aloud, "Where's Accemenla?"

Jinx pointed his beak at Tobias's belt. "Ah, I should have guessed," Tobias said, ringing the chime to call forth the Tarsix. "Breakfast time, he told her," handing her some berries.

_Most unfortunately, _she replied grouchily, shielding her eyes with one paw while she used the other to stuff berries into her mouth. Apparently, Tobias's cheery attitude wasn't affecting her at all. As soon as she had finished eating, she sent herself back into her chime.

Tobias finished packing up camp and was surprised when, instead of fluttering off into the forest again, Jinx returned to his old perch on his head. Apparently, Jinx was content with riding along today, perhaps jealous of the transportation Accemenla had been provided with the other evening.

The morning passed uneventfully as Tobias battled his way through more of the forest. He noticed worriedly that Chevron's itching seemed to be growing worse, but other than that nothing out of the ordinary happened. Just before lunch, however, an odd noise made Tobias halt and take notice.

It was a distant clanging of bells of many different sizes, a confused jumble of notes punctuated by loud thuds. The sounds drew nearer, crescendoing to a vibrant tintinnabulation that echoed around the trees. Jinx took flight to see if he could spy the source of the noise, which was drawing nearer at a fast pace. With a glad caw, he suddenly dived out of sight into some other part of the forest. "Jinx!" Tobias yelled after him.

The jangling, thudding noises suddenly stopped as a human voice echoed through the air. "What the--hey, leave those alone! Off! Get off!" Realizing that Jinx was probably the reason for the shouts, Tobias hurried forward. Rounding a particularly large oak tree, he was greeted by a very unusual sight.

A rather plump, middle-aged man was sitting astride a large Tauros, yelling and swatting wildly at Jinx, who was darting around him. The items that had apparently attracted Jinx's attention were the countless chimes that hung from the man's vest. Copper, bronze, and silver, they shone and glinted brightly in the sunlight. As Tobias watched, Jinx seized one of the silver ones and began to tug at it. The man responded by dealing him a hefty blow to the midsection, sending him flapping away with indignant squawks.

"No, Jinx!" Tobias yelled desperately. "Leave those alone!" Jinx, hearing his guide's voice, halted in his dive to try to grab a different chime and reluctantly fluttered over to Tobias.

"Krow? Kroww murrkrow?" he asked sulkily.

"Because they're not for taking, that's why," Tobias replied firmly, having a good idea of what the bird had just said. To the man he said, "I'm terribly sorry. My Murkrow just has a thing for shiny stuff, you know, and he sometimes goes after it like that."

The man wiped the sweat from his now slightly pink face and surprised Tobias by guffawing loudly. "The Murkow's got spunk, I like that," he chortled. "Imagine, going after my chimes like that." He looked down at Tobias intently. "You'd be a guide, then?"

"Yeah," Tobias replied. He guessed that the man must be as well, though he was obviously far more experienced than himself. Though traditional rules constrained guides to battling with only six Pokemon in any match, there wasn't any limit on how many they could carry around with them. Though many guides chose to limit themselves to keeping only six Pokemon, others chose to collect more and send them to stay with a master guide until they were needed or, like this man, carried them all around with them at once.

"What would you say to a battle?" the man asked. Seeing the look of horror on Tobias's face as the boy's gaze swept across the intimidating selection of chimes at his disposal, he laughed again. "Oh, don't worry, I'll go easy on you. There's a couple of Pokemon that I just caught that I want to try out anyway." He slid down from the Tauros, landing heavily with a loud peal.

"I guess so," Tobias agreed still reluctant.

"Excellent," chortled the man. "I'm Martin Featherfrond, by the way. I've been in the guiding business for over thirty years now, and still going strong." He offered his hand to Tobias, who shook it dazedly. "Of course, I don't have to go to the trouble of trekking everywhere on foot anymore," Martin continued. "I can ride one of my Pokemon wherever I want to go. I actually specialize in collecting the Pokemon for master guides to give to new recruits."

"Really? I though master guides caught all of the Pokemon that they give out," Tobias said, interest aroused. Jinx, who was anticipating the battle, ruffled his feathers irritably as the two humans engaged each other in conversation, annoyed by the delay.

"Well, some do," Martin replied. "Or they go and get the really rare ones, at least. But others use people like me to collect Pokemon for them, especially the really commonly awarded ones that go fast. So, is a three on three match good with you?"

Tobias was about to agree when he caught sight of Chevron, who was vigorously scratching himself once more. Thinking that it might be best to not overexert the Zigzagoon until he could get him checked out at a Pokemon center, Tobias replied, "Would two on two be all right?"

"Two on two?" Martin asked. "How about a double battle?"

"Double battle?" Tobias said blankly.

"Yes, it's a style of battling where each guide uses two Pokemon at once. Some temples require guides to use that format, so if you've never played a double battle before you might want to get acquainted with the concept."

"Oh, okay," Tobias replied without thinking, reaching for Accemenla's chime.

Martin nodded, selecting two bronze chimes from his large stash. Tobias wondered briefly how he could keep track of which was which, but didn't dwell on it. "Go, Rhyhorn and Oddish" he commanded. A craggy, rhinocerous-like Pokemon and a blue creature with a sprig of green leaves sprouting from its head appeared before him.

"Let's go, Jinx and Accemenla," Tobias commanded, ringing Accemenla's chime.

Jinx flew forward, ready to fight, but when Accemenla appeared on the battlefield and assessed the situation, she rounded on Tobias and announced, _I'm not fighting with the Murkrow._

Jinx cawed angrily, impatient with the stubborn Tarsix. "Come on, Accemenla," Tobias pleaded. "You want to win, don't you?"

_I refuse to accept _him _as my partner, _Accemenla replied steadfastly.

"The battle's already started," Martin observed. He couldn't hear the mental proclamations of the Tarsix, but he got the gist of the situation from Tobias's responses. "Rhyhorn, hit the Tarsix with horn attack."

"Quick, Accemenla! Use confusion on it!" Accemenla grudgingly obliged, and the charging Rhyhorn was suddenly thrown aside--and straight at Jinx. The Murkrow cawed angrily and darted out of the way. "Accemenla! Quit fooling around!" Tobias reprimanded her, growing angry.

"Oddish, stun spore on the Murkrow and then hit it with fury attack, Rhyhorn," Martin commanded, not giving Tobias time to deal with his Pokemon's feud.

"Jinx, blow that powder away and then attack the Oddish. Accemenla, cover for Jinx with confusion again," Tobias commanded, giving the Tarsix a warning glare. Jinx obliged, flapping his black wings hard to blow the yellowish powder away, trying to propel it in the direction of the Rhyhorn. The great beast blundered into the cloud as it charged in to attack. Jinx then dove at the Oddish, which was preparing to launch another volley of spores into the air.

The Rhyhorn kept on coming despite the fact that its muscles began to lock up, inertia carrying it forward even as it was barely able to lift its feet. Accemenla stepped between it and Jinx, apparently ready to block the Pokemon's attack with another confusion. At the last moment, however, she merely stepped aside and allowed the hulking beast to barrel into Jinx's unprotected back. It slammed into the much smaller black bird, sending him crashing to the ground.

"No! Accemenla, don't do this!" Tobias yelled furiously.

"Oddish, use a poisonpowder on the Tarsix. Rhyhorn, take it easy for a moment," Martin continued, ignoring Tobias's predicament.

"All right, Jinx, blow away that poisonpowder, then use confusion on the Oddish, Accemenla," Tobias commanded, glaring at the Tarsix.

This time, though, it was Jinx who decided to get revenge. He blew the poisonous spores directly at his teammate. Accemenla groaned as the poison began to take effect, shooting a baleful glare at the Murkrow.

"Jinx, don't you start too," threatened Tobias desperately. "Attack the Oddish with peck again. And Accemenla, use confusion on the Rhyhorn."

"Rhynorn, use stomp on the Tarsix and Oddish, use absorb on her as well," Martin commanded. The two Pokemon converged on Accemenla, the Oddish stopping a short distance away as it prepared for its attack, the Rhyhorn jerkily clomping towards the Tarsix.

Accemenla abandoned the plan laid down by Tobias, deciding that the Oddish was more of a threat and aiming her confusion at it instead of the Rhyhorn. The Oddish, rather than being thrown back, was merely wrenched backwards, one of its leaves being torn off by the blast of psychic energy. Apparently, it had sent roots into the ground, anchoring it and, as Accemenla discovered a moment later, to execute its attack.

The roots burst from the ground beneath the Tarsix, winding around her legs and sinking through her skin. She let out a keening screech as they began to absorb energy from her very blood. She furiously began to lash at the roots with her psychic energy in an attempt to pull them out, only to be beset by the Rhyhorn. He raised his foot and brought it down on the Accemenla's shoulder. She fell to the ground, pinned down by his massive bulk, at last giving in to the effects of poison and fatigue and fainting. Tobias recalled her. "Why didn't you help her like I told you to?" he demanded of Jinx angrily. The Murkrow ignored the question.

The fight did not last much longer. "Absorb, Oddish. Stomp, Rhyhorn," Martin commanded.

"Come on, Jinx, finish off that Oddish with peck," Tobias encouraged desperately. Jinx dove for the weed Pokemon only to become hopelessly entangled in the roots that burst from the ground before it and ensnared him as they had Accemenla. With the Murkrow unable to dodge, the Rhyhorn was able to execute its fury attack, ramming Jinx repeatedly with its stubby horn. Jinx fainted as well, and Tobias recalled him angrily. He couldn't believe that Jinx and Accemenla would allow their dislike of each other to interfere with their battling. He might have won if they hadn't been so busy tormenting each other.

"I'd say that you need to work a bit more on teamwork, there," Martin observed. "Still, you did pretty well, considering." Tobias nodded glumly, grabbing half of his funds from his pack and regretfully handing them over to the older man. Martin accepted the stack of money without even really looking at it. "Where are you headed, kid?" he asked.

"Beachwash," Tobias sighed.

"Oh, that's where I'm off to, too," Martin said in surprise. "Say, why don't I give you a ride? There's room for two on Tauros here and you'll get there much faster. Why, we'll probably hit town by this evening."

"That would be great," Tobias answered, relieved. "I'm running out of healing items."

"Understandable. Here, hop right up," Martin said, clambering aboard the Tauros himself. Tobias, accustomed to riding during his farm days, mounted the powerful creature with ease.

"To Beachwash, then, Tauros," Martin commanded, and the Pokemon snorted in affirmation before pounding forward once more. As Tauros barreled forward, Martin engaged Tobias in conversation.

"Just earned your first temple certification, eh?" he asked.

"Yep, I beat the fire temple," Tobias acknowledged.

"Oh, that's a good one to start off on. Your Pokemon look pretty strong. You know, if you want to try to improve their relationship, there's nothing like having them go through a temple challenge together. You just caught that Murkrow in here, right?"

"Err, yeah," Tobias bluffed uncomfortably.

Martin nodded. "As I thought. Trust me, if you use both that Tarsix and Murkrow in your next temple challenge, they'll grow to like one another soon enough. Even those two would recognize the importance of winning a temple challenge, and once they've been forced to work together they'll realize that it really isn't that bad. Trust me."

Martin went on to tell Tobias about his early days as a guide, a journey which he had begun with one very recalcitrant Geodude. "I tell you, the stubborn old rock would up and punch any of my other Pokemon that even came near it. After we tried out for the water temple certification, though, he came 'round."

Tobias listened politely, guiding Martin to talk more about himself so as to avoid any uncomfortable questions that might be directed at him. He didn't quite feel up to spinning an entire false tale of his journey just yet.

True to Martin's prediction, Tauros carried them into Beachwash in the early evening. The bull Pokemon slowed down as it reached the narrow streets of the port town. A salty breeze blew between the densely packed shops, whistling down dark alleys and around the surly characters that walked the streets.

Beachwash was one of the more disreputable ports in Waytar, though it couldn't hold a candle to the legendary Brinehold of the west. Tobias dismounted Tauros and thanked Martin, who wished the young guide well and turned off onto a side street, apparently intent on some other destination than the Pokemon center.

Fortunately for Tobias, the center stood out like a sore thumb amongst the huddled buildings that made up the town. Its wide façade was painstakingly clean, the windows unfogged by salt and neglect. Tobias entered the building with a sense of relief. Though the experience at the last center he had visited had not been good, that had more or less been his own fault. Here he could count on safety and shelter from the elements.

Perhaps he would not have felt thus had he known that someone had taken an interest in his arrival. A shadowed figure watched the boy enter the center from a nearby alley. Turning to the dark form that stood beside him, he announced quietly, "That's him."


	12. Rumors

Author's Notes: Well, I'm back! Here's to a new year!

Yes, Keleri, it is odd that the psychics and dark-types should have such problems with each other. After all, they seem to get along well enough in the other regions, don't they (witness Pokemon Colosseum)? I, too, was initially leery of making the Tarsix a nocturnal Pokemon, but based on the real animal that it's modeled after, I could neither really bring myself to think of it as either a dark-type or one with sleep cycles more akin to ours.

**Chapter Twelve: Rumors**

Tobias crossed to the typical desk that ran along the far wall of the center. The nurse there smiled welcomingly at him, prepared to accept his Pokemon. Tobias doubted that she'd be smiling if she knew who he really was. Removing his Pokemon's chimes from his belt, he handed two of them to her. "I'd like to have these two healed please. There's another thing, though. My Zigzagoon has been acting funny for the past couple of days and I can't figure out why."

The nurse accepted Tobias's chimes and then said, "Let's have a look at him, then."

Tobias nodded, ringing Chevron's chime. The Zigzagoon materialized on the counter before the nurse, whom he turned to regard with curious eyes. "See, he's been itching all of a sudden. Just like that," Tobias explained, as Chevron demonstrated by vigorously scratching himself behind the ear.

"Hmm," the nurse muttered, picking Chevron up. She gave him a quick checkup, running her hands through his fur and inspecting him carefully. She smiled at Tobias as she set him back down on the table. "It's nothing to worry about. He's just getting ready to evolve. He itches because he feels like his skin doesn't fit right anymore, if you see what I mean."

"Evolve?" Tobias repeated in shock.

"That's right," the nurse replied, smiling again. "He's a little beat up, too. Would you like to have him healed as well?"

"Umm, sure," Tobias replied dazedly, handing over Chevron's chime. "Dinner would be nice, too."

"Of course," the nurse agreed, accepting the chime and scooping Chevron up as well before disappearing into the back area of the center. Tobias was left leaning against the counter, not sure what to make of her proclamation. He wandered over to a seat at one of the common room tables. The center was still largely unoccupied, as most guides straggled in well after dark, having wanted to extend their training sessions for as long as possible.

He sat and pondered the possibility of evolution as the nurse bustled out with his dinner which was, unsurprisingly, fish. True, there wasn't much that he could do about Chevron's evolution. It would only take a bit more battle experience for him to make the change, and unless Tobias prevented him from battling ever again, he would quickly acquire it. What would it be like, though? He'd heard that some Pokemon became totally different upon evolution, such as the originally vacant and weak Magikarp that grew to become the immensely powerful and fearsome Gyrados. From what he understood, though, most evolution changes were more subtle than that. As he gulped down forkfuls of fish, he resigned himself to doing what he always did in situations where he didn't know what he was up against: consult the guidebook.

In this case, the guidebook was not overly helpful. It had a wealth of information on the evolutionary process itself, how it was achieved and so on, but little about the psychological effects that it had on the Pokemon that underwent it. Shutting the book with a sigh and shoving away his plate, he returned to the front desk to request a room for the night.

The nurse returned his Pokemon to him and handed him a room key, which she said belonged to number eight. He ascended the stairs, found his room and entered it, only to find that it was not much different than the one he had stayed in during his visit to Tamato. He plopped down on the bed, allowing his heavy pack to slide the floor with its characteristic heavy thud. He rang all three of his chimes at once, releasing all of his team.

"We have some serious talking to do," he informed his Pokemon. Accemenla and Jinx glared at him resentfully, preparing for a lecture on their behavior during Tobias's match against Martin. Chevron merely peered up at him with innocent curiosity, awaiting Tobias's speech. "I'll begin with you two," Tobias announced, indicating Accemenla and Jinx. Jinx rolled his red eyes and Accemenla twitched an ear in annoyance, but neither made any sort of verbal protest. "The way that you two behaved in battle today was inexcusable," Tobias began, glaring down at the pair. "We could have won that fight if you hadn't been expending all of your energies trying to do each other in. First you, Accemenla. You don't even know Jinx. What's the big deal about fighting with him?"

_He is a dark-type, _she replied as if that explained everything.

"Don't try that with me," Tobias snapped. "There were plenty of master guides that had psychic-types and dark-types on their team that got along perfectly well."

_Yes, well, you're not a master guide, are you? _Accemenla retorted.

The insult stung Tobias. He gritted his teeth in anger, resisting the urge to retort with something unwise. "No," he admitted, choosing his words carefully to prevent something unwanted from tumbling out of his mouth, "but I am your guide, and if that means that you have to learn to like a dark-type, then that's what you'll do." He hoped that didn't sound too overbearing, but Accemenla merely flicked her tail and remained silent. He next rounded on Jinx. "And you," he growled. "You should know better. Just because Accemenla is acting up doesn't mean you have to join in. Maybe she insulted you, but you insulted yourself more by your actions." The Murkrow appeared unrepentant as always, silent and brooding. Tobias continued, "And I want you two to make up. Accemenla, tell Jinx that you're sorry."

The Tarsix's eyes, which had been half-closed as she allowed her mind to wander, flew fully open. _I will not, _she stated firmly.

"Yes, you will," Tobias ordered. "You deliberately tried to provoke Jinx and even tried to hurt him. He deserves and apology. Give him one."

_And what if I don't? _Accemenla asked dangerously.

Her answer found Tobias completely unprepared.. What leverage did he have over the headstrong Pokemon? What sort of punishment could he arrange that would have any affect on her behavior, short of an act that could be termed "Pokemon abuse?" Just then, he thought of something fitting. "Then you won't be participating in any guide battles until you do," he threatened.

This infuriated the battle-loving Tarsix. She'd thought that she had the human stumped after her biting retort and had been congratulating herself on a card well played. She lashed her tail angrily, glaring at her guide. Then turning sullenly to Jinx, she growled, _I'm sorry, _broadcasting the message so that the human could hear.

Tobias sighed. It was certainly not a sincere apology, but at least it was a start. "Your turn now, Jinx," he stated. Jinx looked up in surprise. "Yes, you too. You deliberately followed Accemenla's example and didn't help her out when she was in need. She deserves an apology as well."

Jinx fluffed his feathers up angrily, shooting venomous glances at Tobias out of the corner of his eye. At last, however, he spat, "Krow," at Accemenla. Tobias guessed that this was an apology, as Accemenla merely gave a mental snort rather than attacking or acting offended.

"All right, then. I'll leave you out for the rest of the night, provided you stay in the room and don't make trouble, okay?" he asked. The pair nodded sullenly, and Jinx flapped up to perch, as usual, on the bedpost. Accemenla, on the other hand, darted over to the bedside table, scampered up one of its legs, and then leapt from it onto the windowsill. There she sat, staring pensively out at the moonlit city beyond the glass. Only Chevron remained seated before Tobias. Though worried by the tension he had sensed during the conversation thus far, he was encouraged by the fact that Tobias didn't look at all angry as he gazed down at him.

"So, Chevron, you heard what the nurse said?" he asked the Zigzagoon kindly. Chevron nodded, chirring his affirmation. "What do you think of it? Evolving, I mean. Do you think that you're ready?"

This gave the Zigzagoon some pause. He sat on the ragged carpet that covered the floorboards, pondering as hard as he could. He didn't really know all that much about evolution, though he knew that it meant that he would turn into a Linoone like his parents. Surely it must be a good thing, then? He nodded emphatically, adding an enthusiastic "Goon! Zig zigzagzagoon!"

Tobias smiled, pulling Chevron into his lap and giving him a good back scratch, which caused the raccoon to purr with pleasure. Though he realized that the small creature probably didn't realize all that evolution entailed, at least now he knew that Chevron was willing to go through with it by his own free will.

He yawned widely, thinking of how good it would feel to sleep in a real bed once more. "Looks like it's about time for me to be turning in, eh, Chevron?" he asked with a smile. Blowing out the lamp, he slid under the covers and sank slowly into a restful sleep. As he did so, however, his eye caught the form of Accemenla, now silhouetted against the light trickling in through the windowpane. He shivered briefly as he pondered how very little control he had over the headstrong creature. What allowed a guide to exert dominance over a Pokemon, anyway? As far as physical strength and, occasionally, strength of mind, went, Pokemon outstripped humans easily. And yet, they submitted willingly enough to the authority of their guide, putting their faith in their human companion. _What a tenuous hold it must be that we humans exert over our Pokemon,_ he thought to himself, before sliding into the confused ramblings of sleep in earnest.

The morning dawned bright and cheery, a few wisps of ragged cloud hanging amongst the grayish-blue color of the sky. Tobias awoke slowly, the light filtering in through the window causing him to start up faster as he realized that he had, in fact, slept late. Grumbling disappointedly, he shoved the covers aside, dislodging Chevron, and stood. Stretching, he noticed that Accemenla was still roaming around the room, currently clutching the headboard in her articulate claws. Jinx was preening on the bedpost, ignoring her determinedly. Tobias hoped that they hadn't had any sort of fight in the night, though he felt that such a feud would probably have awoken him and half of the center.

Shrugging back into his pack's straps, Tobias beckoned to his three Pokemon. "Come on, we're already late. Let's get some breakfast." Jinx darted over to land on his head almost before the sentence was out of his mouth, watching smugly as Accemenla, who had been on the verge of jumping to grab onto Tobias's pack, faltered and glared up at him, deciding to trail along with Chevron instead.

Down the stairs the quartet went, emerging into a once again nearly empty common room. Most of the serious guides had already left, headed out to begin the trek to their next destination or shop around and cruise for battles. Those that were left would probably be staying in the city for a while and didn't have to concern themselves with getting an early start. Tobias approached the main desk to request a meal for himself and his three Pokemon before taking a seat near a table occupied by three young guides of about his age.

Listening idly to their amiable chatter, he guessed that they must be traveling companions, or at least friends from the same town. "What's the buzz, Jordan?" asked one, a girl with her red hair hanging loose about her shoulders . As she spoke, she teased the tail of the Ekans draped languorously about her neck.

"There's quite a bit going down, actually," the boy that must be Jordan replied. "Big doings, if you catch my drift. Fishy, like."

"And what isn't fishy in this town?" joked the third party member, a girl with her hair done up in intricate braids.

"Har har, Hannah," Jordan replied. "Anyway, you've all heard of that Talltree kid from Firstseed?" Tobias's ears perked up, and it was all that he could do not to whip around to stare intently at the speaker. He carefully maintained an air of nonchalance, all the while listening with bated breath to the now very interesting conversation.

"The one with the Murkrow, right?" Hannah replied, offering the Jigglypuff in her lap a berry, which it rejected. "He stole some Pokemon and then broke out of the jail."

"That's the one," Jordan confirmed. "Anyway, they reckon there's been another sighting of him leaving Rareview. One of the guardsmen there claimed to have been on his trail a couple of nights ago in the Dakrill forest, but apparently he escaped. Or, rather, the guard came staggering back into the city so bloodied up that they could barely tell it was him. Apparently, he'd been attacked by a Murkrow murder that was hanging around in the forest."

"Serves him right, the foolish git," the Ekans girl announced. "Everyone knows that you shouldn't go bumbling around in forests like that after dark. Nothing escapes from a murder without serious injury. 'Cept other Murkrow, I guess."

"Be that as it may, there's something else," Jordan continued. "The boy was headed north."

"This way?" gasped Hannah.

"Huh. If he comes skulking around here, me 'n Coils'll teach him not to abuse Pokemon," the Ekans girl snorted derisively.

Jordan made no comment, merely forking a bit of scrambled eggs into his mouth. "There's other rumors coming out of Firstseed, though. Their master guide, Madam Truebeech or something, she's gone missing. Disappeared without a trace, in fact, and her Alakazam with her."

"Maybe she just went out to catch some more Pokemon or something," Hannah pointed out. "Master guides are always heading off on quests and stuff like that."

"Not without informing the guides' council first, they don't," Jordan replied grimly. "They're in a right tizzy over there because no one's seen or heard anything from her for, oh, about a week. I tell you, it's strange times, strange times."

Tobias allowed their chatter to slip to the back of his mind. So, Sergeant Danklake had survived his encounter with the murder, and he had recognized Tobias as well. At least no one knew of his assumed identity. The tidbit about Madam Truealder was disturbing, though. The timing seemed all too perfect. The woman had apparently disappeared just a couple of days after issuing Jinx to Tobias. Yes, all was not right in his hometown.

The nurse brought him his own plate of eggs and various berry confections for the two Pokemon. Tobias thanked her as she set the food down and asked, "I'm looking for a ferry to get to Frostdown. Do you know where I can find one?"

"You're in luck," the nurse, a plump woman with a kindly face, replied, "there's one leaving today. Just head down the street outside the center to the east until you reach the shipyard, and look out for the _Sea Pidgeot_. She'll be headed that way."

Tobias thanked her and bolted down his breakfast. If the ship was sailing today, he'd need to get down to the docks as soon as possible if he wanted a place on it. He only hoped that he wasn't already too late. After he had finished, he found himself impatiently prodding his Pokemon's progress forward, finally irritably telling Accemenla, who had been amusing herself by trying to levitate her breakfast into her mouth, to either eat it like a normal Pokemon or leave it. At last they were ready to go, Accemenla returning to her chime and Jinx hopping up to his usual perch.

Tobias strode along the narrow streets of the town, the salty air burning in his nostrils, its scent alien and exotic to the young guide. As he neared the shipyard, the activity increased markedly. Guides swarmed along the piers, looking for ships bound to various destinations or seeking out a shipment of rare goods from other areas of the world. Fisherman piled their catches up on the docks, adding the overpowering scent of fish to the mixture of aromas drifting on the restless air.

Searching frantically among what seemed innumerable huge ships, Tobias at last located the one with _Sea Pidgeot_ emblazoned proudly on her side. Hurrying over to a sailor who was occupied with lugging a huge, unmarked crate onto the ship, he called, "Excuse me, where can I ask about getting passage on the ship?"

"Ye'd be wantin' the captain, then," the man grunted in response, sweat breaking out on his forehead as he strained with the heavy load. "'E's over thataways," he informed Tobias, jerking his head towards a man standing on the pier near the ship, arguing vehemently with a small, shrewd-looking man.

Tobias thanked the sailor, who at last succeeding in heaving the crate up onto the deck of the ship, and nervously approached the man that the sailor had indicated. The short man darted away, leaving the captain alone, still obviously fuming. "Err, excuse me?" Tobias spoke up meekly.

The captain turned to him in exasperation. "Yes?" he asked curtly.

"Is this the ship that's sailing to Frostdown?" Tobias inquired, just to be sure. The captain was a tall, imposing figure. He wore fine clothes, kept impeccably clean despite the slime that clung to the pier and seemed unavoidable in the bustling environment. His hawk-nosed face sported a pair of green eyes that gleamed with intelligence and determination.

"That it is," the captain replied, a little less angry than before. "Are you looking for a place on her?"

"Yes, I am," Tobias replied, relieved. "How much is it?"

"It's 750Pk. That covers housing, meals, and any Pokemon that you might be bringing with you. The voyage will take nine days, nonstop," the captain informed him.

Tobias winced as he heard the price. The prize money from the fire temple had been 3000Pk, and he'd already lost half of it to Martin. He was loathe to part with so much of it already, but what other choice did he have? "I'd like a spot on the boat then, please," he announced, reaching into his pack for his money pouch.

The captain reached into his coat as well, withdrawing a small book and a pencil. Accepting Tobias's fare and counting it carefully, he scribbled something in the record book. "Name?" he asked as he tucked the money away.

"Thomas Goldspur," Tobias recited. After his slip with Accemenla, he had been rehearsing his new name over and over again.

The captain jotted this down as well before closing the book again and tucking it away again. He extended his hand to Tobias, announcing, "I'm captain Swarmvine. The ship will sail at one thirty this afternoon and no later. Make sure that you're here on time. We won't be waiting and there are no refunds."

Tobias took the proffered hand and shook it. "Thank you. I look forward to the trip." The transaction completed, the captain Swarmvine turned away to berate a sailor who had dropped one of the crates being loaded into the ship. He found himself adrift in the city once more with little notion of what to do.

He wandered down to the rocky beach, looking out across the Sunrise Ocean in awe. Never before had he seen something so vast. He squinted but couldn't make out the other side, though he could see a black smudge on the horizon. Undoubtedly, it was one of the World's Teeth, the stone spires of legend that jutted from the water around Waytar and marked the boundary of the shield.

Pacing along the shore, listening to the voracious waves impale themselves upon the sharp rocks that lined beach, he pondered the old story, one that his father had recited numerous times before the fire on cold winter nights.

Supposedly, the last of the legendary beasts to attempt to break through the shield had been the massive and fearsome legendary beast of land. He had taken the continent in his vast jaws and bit as hard as he could, throwing all of the power of the world against the small landmass. Rather than crumbling beneath the force of his jaws, however, it was Waytar that triumphed--the creature's huge teeth shattered on the impenetrable shield. The fell and impaled themselves in the waters just outside the boundary. The huge legendary, bellowing in anger and defeat, had subsided once more, leaving the continent peaceful at last.

Tobias had never really believed that story--after all, who'd ever heard of a Pokemon, even a legendary, big enough to take the entire continent in its mouth? But if the teeth really did exist, maybe it was true, after all.

Tobias spent the rest of the morning wandering throughout the city, looking with interest at the exotic wares set out in stalls all across the town. He found one shop that specialized in selling rune slabs only, and was sorely tempted to buy one that one of his Pokemon could use. Their high prices were daunting, however. Also tempting were the greater chimes, those forged of copper, which hung in a bellmaker's shop. These, too, were expensive, and though Tobias's money was burning a hole in his pocket he schooled himself carefully to avoid spending it here. After all, the ride to Frostdown would provide him with all of his basic needs, there would be no more new Pokemon to catch along the way, and he could rest assured that the market of the booming Frostdown would hold far more impressive items.

Tobias made it back to the ship with time to spare, and the captain sent a sailor to escort him to his quarters. They were cramped but serviceable, about as good as a guide could expect on a small passenger craft such as this. Returning to the deck, he gazed once more across the vast ocean as sailors rushed about on deck, making everything ready for castoff.

"Hey, kid!" came a voice behind him. Tobias turned from the rail in shock, only to find himself confronted by the Ekans girl that he had seen in the Pokemon center, though the snake was no longer draped around her neck. "You're a guide, right? Wanna battle?"

"Oh, sure," Tobias replied. This would be his chance to evolve Chevron, or so he hoped. He reached for the Zigzagoon's chime and rang it, calling the raccoon Pokemon forth. The other girl countered by releasing the Ekans he had seen her with earlier. Tobias drew in a deep breath, prepared to make his first command.

Unfortunately, a sailor had heard the telltale voice of Tobias's chime and moved to stop the battle before it began. "What are you kids, nuts?" he bellowed as he charged up to them. "You can't battle on this ship! One attack that puts a hole in her could send us all to the bottom!"

"Oh…sorry," Tobias replied mareepishly, cowed by the towering, red-faced sailor. The Ekans girl didn't appear as perturbed, recalling her Pokemon in calm silence. The sailor stalked off once more, grumbling darkly to himself. Chevron bounded over to look out over the ocean, another new sight for him. He was as awed as Tobias, and apparently quite eager to go out and explore it himself, though fortunately his guide caught him before he hurled himself off of the railing and into the strange, undulating water.

At last, the final preparations were made and the ship slowly moved out from the dock, huge sails bellying out as they caught the wind. The prow slowly turned northward, the boat cutting a path through the waves in pursuit of its distant goal. Tobias clung to the rail, mesmerized as he watched the road before him open up in a great strip of azure water.


	13. Mission Accomplished

Author's Notes: Thank you all for reviewing! This is the chapter that I wanted to go up before break. When you reach the end, I think you'll see why ;).

Anyway, sorry I can't get too specific with the ship VulpixTrainer. I don't really know any names. It's a large, wooden sailing ship, basically along the lines of those used by Christopher Columbus. Sorry I can't do much better than that; I'm not well-versed in nautical jargon, I'm afraid.

I'm glad you like Tarsix, Yellowspottedlizard. I'm proud of how it turned out. And I'm rather fond of the ice worlds as well Keleri. This one is home to my favorite self-created Pokemon, Freeteor.

**Chapter 13: Mission Accomplished**

The sea voyage was perhaps the most exciting part of Tobias's journey thus far, if one didn't count the parts where he had been running for his life as exciting. He was mesmerized by the water Pokemon that inhabited the open ocean, from the Wailmer pods that bobbed by like so many blue corks on the swells to the occasional Gyrados that thrust its terrifying visage up from the depths, saltwater cascading from gaping jaws and rock-hard scales. More fascinating yet were the remnants of Waytarian history that reared up from the water as well.

The World's Teeth were much more distinct here, where the ship would occasionally pass within a mile of them. Tobias was always awed at the sight of one of the towering, weathered rock spires, no matter how many of them passed. The weather was generally fair, the storms that passed mild and nothing that the sturdy _Sea Pidgeot _couldn't handle. The boat made good time, never lacking a good wind. Whenever the boat lost the breeze, Captain Swarmvine released his six Pidgeot, the ship's namesake, and asked that they stir up a little gale to get it moving again. Tobias never tired of watching the huge raptors go about the task, powerful wings beating the air into carefully controlled gusts to drive the ship onward.

Even the food was good, the short voyage and relatively few passengers ensuring that there was plenty for all, and relatively fresh at that. Tobias's Pokemon, with the exception of Accemenla, grew accustomed to spending the days outside on the deck, enjoying the bright sun and salty air and frolicking on the deck with the Pokemon of other guides. Meanwhile, Tobias chatted with the guides themselves, making several of what he considered to be friends as the voyage progressed. The small ship and lack of activity had a way of driving the passengers together, forcing them to get to know one another. Tobias eventually learned that the Ekans trainer's name was Angela, who had traveled to Washbeach all the way from Loamleaf far to the south. Much to his discomfort, Tobias also found that the Scalgolin trainer, whom he heard from Jordan was named Timothy, had boarded the ship as well. Fortunately, the boy seemed disinclined to mingle and gave Tobias a wide berth. This suited him well enough, and so there was no reason for him to do anything about the situation.

The weather grew steadily colder as they traveled northward, the Cragtop Mountains gradually replacing forested hills, their chilly white peaks reaching up into the sky. Beyond them lay Tobias's next destination, the city of Frostdown. It was on the second to last day of their journey, as they rounded the eastern edge of the continent, that something truly exciting happened.

In the early afternoon Tobias was, according to his usual routine, leaning against the rail and watching Chevron and Jinx tussle playfully. He was glad that the two got along as well as they did. Though the problem between Jinx and Accemenla seemed to have been temporarily brushed aside, Tobias had a feeling that it wouldn't be long in rearing its ugly head once more. He was distracted from the frolicking Pokemon by a sudden increase in noise on deck. Voices rose in a sudden excited, if apprehensive, buzz. Sailors paused in their work, a few even walking over to the rail and gazing with a mixture of interest and fear into the depths. Intrigued, Tobias recalled Chevron, who had apparently caught the mood and looked inclined to go and find out the source of all of the excitement, even if it meant leaping into the bitingly cold waters, and hurried as far to the bow as he could get, peering intently over the side like so many of the other people there.

There was something massive swimming near to the ship, something that undulated in thick coils of blue. A fluked tail rose from the water and disappeared once more, only to be replaced by a leering head. Two swept-back yellow horns sprouted from it, resting just above the cunning yellow eyes that peered up at the humans. Fangs bared, the head sank back below the water, followed by a hump of serpentine body down which ran a jagged navy ridge.

"So we're in Slipstri waters now, eh?" grunted a sailor who had taken a place at the rail next to Tobias. "Bad luck, they are. We'd best be moving through here as quickly as possible."

Tobias dislodged his trusty guidebook from its place in his pack and found Slipstri's entry.

_Slipstri, the vicious Pokemon. Types: Water and Dark_

_Slipstri are the longest Pokemon in the world, some nearing thirty feet when mature, and their four powerful flippers and tail allow them to swim through the ocean at incredible speeds. Known for their spiteful, malicious natures, the intelligent Slipstri delight in the suffering of others. Found only in the frigid northern oceans, they claim an area as their own territory and drive out all other large Pokemon and animals. These Pokemon mysteriously disappear each summer, baffling experts the world over. Few guides can ever hope to capture and raise a Slipstri as they are extremely headstrong and have a low regard for humans. It is usually necessary to raise the Slipstri from its Blubble or Sesstra form, and even then it may be very difficult to control._

Tobias returned the guidebook to his bag and turned to look back at the menacing Pokemon, which was now circling the _Sea Pidgeot_. It made no move to attack, but Tobias had the distinct feeling that it was enjoying the terror most of the passengers showed at its passage. He leaned out over the rail, straining to catch a better glimpse of the fickle and awe-inspiring creature.

Timothy was only mildly impressed by the presence of the powerful Pokemon, concentrating more on his target. The guide Tobias Talltree, now masquerading under the name of Thomas Goldspur, was completely caught up in its majesty. Timothy smiled to himself, having seen far more interesting creatures than this mildly dangerous sea serpent.

In fact, he was beginning to grow bored with the mission in its entirety. To put it simply, it was far too easy. The foolish boy had been easy to track, despite his clumsy attempts at disguise and deception. Clearly, his defeat of Siculsor and subsequent escape from the Rareview jail were merely lucky breaks for the boy. He was an amateur, a bumbling fool in an art of masters.

Following his orders, Timothy had first traveled to Rareview, hoping to find the boy there. He had been overjoyed upon hearing that the guide had been detained for supposed theft and Pokemon abuse, and equally disappointed that he had mysteriously slipped from his cell. Timothy was patient, however; the boy couldn't have possibly escaped on his own and, if he had the aid of others, would probably not have moved on in such a short time, instead waiting to rest and plan before being sent off. A quick check of the surrounding area seemed to prove his hypothesis, with Timothy patrolling the outlying area himself by day and enlisting the aid of a local guardsman to do the job by night.

True, the man had been as stubborn and uncooperative as one could expect the local authorities to be, but Timothy had orders from a higher power, and thus it was within Timothy's power to issue his own orders. It was only deserving that the man should have been stupid enough to follow the boy and his Murkrow into the trap laid by its foul brethren. Clearly, he had had no idea of the sort of criminal he was truly pursuing.

At least the encounter had given Timothy his next destination. Washbeach was the natural aim, being the only civilization of any account for miles in the harsh northern forest. Not only that, but the ships that sailed from its port were an obvious escape route, allowing any resourceful criminal access to transport to anywhere in the world. Timothy, not being constrained to wander through the forest in pursuit of the boy, merely traveled to Washbeach and waited, hanging near the Pokemon center where the guide was sure to turn up. Had he not appeared within a reasonable number of days, Timothy would have moved on to the next most likely settlement to begin the search once more.

And now, it seemed his long journey was at last coming to a close. Timothy's opportunity had at last come, and it appeared that it would not be so difficult to take advantage of as he had expected. He watched the boy as he eagerly reached for his guidebook, no doubt to look up information on the Slipstri, eventually returning it to his pack but continuing to watch the Pokemon's antics, his foul bird by his side. Timothy's grip tightened on the rail, instinctively bracing himself for what was to come. He watched as Tobias leaned far out over the rail…

_NOW, Ranfulgor, _he barked mentally, sending a rehearsed command to his companion. Though no verbal or mental acknowledgement of it came, the ship suddenly gave a violent lurch, bucking up out of the water as though it had been smashed by some unseen wave. Passengers screamed and scrabbled for handholds, sailors stared about in bewilderment and Tobias was thrown from the deck.

The ship's sudden jerk took Tobias completely by surprise. Hanging precariously over the rail, he was in no position to catch himself. Clawing desperately for a handhold, he was nonetheless thrown overboard.

Almost before he could comprehend the situation, he plunged into the frigid, stinging water. He sank almost instantly, heavy pack and clothing bearing him downward. He was a strong swimmer, but the cold shock left him temporarily paralyzed, the murky depths of the ocean almost totally dark and impenetrable. As soon as he could, he began to try to struggle back to the surface, but his pack seemed to weigh a ton. He struggled to shuck it off, leave it behind in the chill, killing waters, but to his horror, one of the buckles of the left strap had caught on his shirt. He worked at it frantically, trying to contain his mounting panic as he sank ever deeper.

And then something clove through the murky depths, something very familiar. A sinewy rope of blue muscle, it slid past him, near enough for him to touch. Though he felt the telltale prickle of terror and horror at the sight of the massive creature-a distinctly unfriendly character-he found it increasingly difficult to react. The cold water was drawing the life from his limbs, even his thoughts growing sluggish as he continued to struggle with his pack, though the fight seemed futile, his coordination slipping away from numbed fingers and fogged brain. His lungs screamed for air and he fought desperately against the creeping cold darkness, but it overtook him in a tide as inexorable as the one dragging on his limp body.

Timothy, acting the shocked and horrified witness, rushed over to peer down into the depths where the boy had disappeared. He sank below the surface quickly, and though the sailors rushed over with the lifesaving ring, it was useless if the victim didn't resurface.

None were going to attempt to dive in and attempt to save the boy; the Slipstri that coiled its sinuous body back to circle the area where the boy had gone down ensured that they would remain on the relative safety of the deck. Indeed, the only one reckless enough to try to confront the huge creature was the boy's own Murkrow, which dived after him in what Timothy admitted was a touching and very convincing display of loyalty.

The soot-black bird flew around and around the Slipstri's head, which had surfaced mere moments before, screeching wildly. The great serpent seemed annoyed by its distress, and it hissed angrily back. The Murkrow, maddened by panic as it saw the Slipstri preparing to dive again, actually attacked it, claws raking across its snout. The Slipstri bellowed in surprised pain, entire body convulsing with shock as blood gushed from the wound.

Its fluked tail slammed against the side of the _Sea Pidgeot_, and the ship shuddered and groaned beneath the powerful blow. The crowd on deck gasped and drew back again, fleeing back from the rail as quickly as they had crowded against it. The captain's voice was heard, shouting orders to try to put an end to the chaos.

"Avis! Get up there and blow us out of here fast!" he barked. One of his Pidgeots surged skyward at the order, obliging by whipping up a swift gale to speed the ship onward.

"What about they boy?" called one anxious passenger.

"There's nothing more we can do for him," the captain replied grimly. "It's too dangerous for us to stay here. An enraged Slipstri is one of the greatest hazards of the high seas, and if we don't leave fast, that may very well be what we face."

Further protests were stilled by this proclamation, but a few anxious people gazed guiltily back at the fast-receding Slipstri and the place where the boy had gone down. Timothy was pleased to see that, though the serpent was now furiously attacking the Murkrow, fangs flashing as it snapped after the darting bird, nothing else had changed. Tobias had not resurfaced.

_Good job, Ranfulgor, _he congratulated his faithful partner. Timothy pondered the benefits that would come with this job well done. Naturally, his master would be pleased to hear that his mission had been accomplished. The guide was dead, and without him, the Murkrow was of no concern. Taking one last look out across the water, he saw that the great serpent had apparently lost interest and swum away, unable to catch the Murkrow and seeking to take its rage out on some other unfortunate denizen of the waters. Now only the lone bird was left, flapping in forlorn circles around a small area of ocean, indistinguishable from the rest.

Turning away from the rail to mingle once more with the crowd, Timothy missed the look of pure hatred that the Murkrow shot at him as it wearily circled the place where its guide had sunk into the icy depths.


	14. Outside

Author's Notes: As always, thanks for your reviews. Tarsix does look sorta like a cat, Yellowspotted lizard, but it's closest to a tarsier in appearance, of course. The plot is going to pick up the pace a bit more at this point, though we're really only just getting started with it.

**Chapter 14: Outside**

Jinx, like his guide, was peering intently over the ship's railing, watching the massive blue serpent lazily coil through the water, a yellow eye occasionally flashing up to discern its effects on the shipboard humans. As he observed, Jinx felt an unsettling sensation build at the base of his black feathers. It was a persistent, tingling itch, one that was so slight as to be barely noticeable but nevertheless maddeningly persistent. It seemed almost as though his feathers were vibrating in their sockets, twitching and twisting with a life of their own. He had barely enough time to comprehend it, however, before the action that it had portended manifested itself as the boat gave a sudden, wrenching yaw. Jinx's relaxed grip on the rail could not stop him from being pitched overboard, his talons wildly clawing at the empty air.

Jinx quickly opened his wings, bringing his fall to a halt as he flapped madly, perhaps two feet from the water's surface. Croaking irritably, he made to flutter back up to the deck, only to be distracted by the cacophonous splash that blossomed nearby. Squawking irritably at the dousing he received as a result, Jinx flapped closer to the source of the noise. He saw that it was a young human boy who had apparently fallen from the ship, who had hit the water's surface and was now proceeding to sink fast.

For one curious moment, Jinx couldn't recognize the terrified child's face. Then, with a sudden sickening realization, he saw that it was his own guide, Tobias, who had plunged into the water. Even as he realized this, Tobias sunk from view, leaving Jinx to hover dazedly over the spot, unsure of what to do.

A hump of blue-scaled body rose from the water nearby, only to be followed by another, and another. The leering head that broke the surface before them snapped Jinx out of his stupor. Of course! The Slipstri would be sure to help. Jinx eagerly darted over to hover before the Pokemon's face. "Please, help me! My guide fell in the water, just there, and he's drowning. Save him!"

The Slipstri was completely taken aback as the Murkrow swooped down in front of his snout. "What?" he asked.

Jinx was fighting to keep the panic that was quickly rising in his breast from leaking out into his words, but it was a losing battle. "My guide! He's fallen off the boat and he's drowning! Save him, please!"

The Slipstri's cunning yellow eyes, which had widened in shock as the Murkrow appeared before him, now narrowed unpleasantly as he processed the information that it provided him with. His mouth opened in a leering, fangy grin. "Drowning, isss he?" he hissed, cutting off any further pleas by Jinx. "An amusssing habit of humansss, that."

Jinx felt cold horror begin to creep in over the panic clutching at his hear. "No, it's not amusing. He's my guide; he can't drown!"

"I asssure you that he can and probably will," replied the Splipstri. "Now, if you'll excussse me, I'm misssing the ssshow." His horned head began to sink from sight once more.

Jinx went a little bit mad at this point. Unable to deal with the feelings of futility and hopelessness that engulfed his small form, he lashed blindly out at the Slipstri. "You can't do this! Save my guide! Save him! Save him!" he shrieked as he lunged forward at the retreating Slipstri. His outstretched talons skated across the slick scales that covered the Pokemon's face before finding purchase in the tough flesh surrounding his right nostril. Jinx's claws tore into it with a will, and the Slipstri bellowed with shock and pain.

The massive Pokemon writhed angrily, throwing Jinx off and lashing the _Sea Pidgeot _with his broad and powerful tail. Jinx was oblivious to the screams and cries echoing from the ship as it listed once more, quickly regaining control of his flight. The Slipstri, too, quickly regained control of himself. He lunged at Jinx with murder in his eyes and dozens of needle-sharp teeth in his gaping maw.

As Jinx weaved and dodged, avoiding the snapping teeth and battering snout of the Slipstri, he babbled wildly, not fully comprehending his own words as they tumbled from his beak. "You can't do this! He's my guide, mine! He can't drown! They gave him to me! I was his first! He can't drown!"

The Slipstri, though maddened by the Murkrow's impudent attack and his own failure to prevent it, was still brought up short by Jinx's proclamation. "They gave him to you?" he asked, halting his attacks.

"Yes, I was his first," Jinx repeated, panting as he wearily flapped to maintain altitude, his sanity slowly returning.

"A Murkrow guide," murmured the Slipstri, half to himself. "Interesssting." Then, without warning and before Jinx had time to respond, he submerged once more, sinuous body going into a dive as he strove towards the bottom of the ocean.

Jinx was left alone to desperately circle the area where he had last seen Tobias. He pumped his wings wearily, already beginning to tire from his frantic maneuvers to avoid the Slipstri's jaws and the effort of keeping himself aloft for so long. Murkrow, after all, were not adapted to long, sustained flights as were Pidgeot. He was in shock as he numbly pumped his black-feathered wings; in all of his short life, Tobias was the first human that he had felt remotely close to, and now he was, apparently, gone.

Without warning, the itching sensation that had preceded the ship's sudden lurch began again, though even fainter this time, and restricted to his left side. He whipped around to look in that direction as quickly as he was able, only to find himself regarding the departing _Sea Pidgeot. _And there, on the railing, was a boy, one who had apparently just turned away from watching the Murkrow. Jinx recognized him as guide who had sent that arrogant Scalgolin against him in battle and, what's worse, won.

The itching sensation ceased once more, the _Sea Pidgeot _sailing swiftly onward, propelled by one of its captain's Pidgeot, eager to speed the boat away from the marauding Slipstri. Somehow, Jinx was convinced that this whole incident had been that boy's doing, and he watched the figure recede into the distance with unveiled hatred.

As the boy drifted from sight, Jinx returned to his morose flapping. He thought dully that perhaps he might continue to circle here until his wings at last gave out, and then he, too, would be claimed by the ocean.

His dark thoughts were brought to an abrupt close as the water beneath him rose up once more, sloshing aside to make way for the head of the Slipstri, which once more thrust its way into the salty air. This time, however, there was a human draped across his broad horns, lying on his side in what seemed to be a peaceful slumber. "Your guide ssswimsss like a boulder," complained the Slipstri as he caught sight of Jinx.

Overjoyed, Jinx fluttered down to land on Tobias's shoulder. The boy hung limply across the yellowed horns of the serpent, one hand trailing listlessly in the water. As Jinx made his landing, he found that the flesh beneath his claws was horribly cold.

"He's dead!" Jinx shrieked, taking flight once more.

"Don't be ssstupid," the Slipstri snapped irritably. "I wouldn't have bothered to bring him up if he wasss dead. No, the water isss cold. He livesss."

As if to verify the Pokemon's statement, Tobias stirred faintly, vomiting forth a stream of seawater. The Slipstri shook his head irritably, jolting Jinx, who had reluctantly landed once more upon Tobias's shoulder. No further signs of life were forthcoming, however. Tobias lay still and cold across the Slipstri's horns. "If you are lucky, he may continue to live. Now, we mussst be going. Time isss ssshort," the Slipstri announced.

He began to swim, four powerful flippers beating in tandem to rocket him forward, sinuous body and fluked tail following the stroke through. He traveled even faster than the _Sea Pidgeot _had, slashing through the salty water like a blue lightning bolt. Jinx clung to Tobias and marveled as the massive Slipstri effortlessly glided through the water, seemingly able to take his remarkable speed for granted. The Murkrow was even more surprised, however, to find that he was traveling away from shore.

"Where are you going," Jinx asked, puzzled.

"Outssside," the Slipstri replied without slowing.

"What's outside?" Jinx persisted.

"Don't asssk sssuch ssstupid quessstionsss," the Slipstri hissed in irritation. "Don't dissstract me; this will be hard enough asss it isss."

"But why don't you just take him back to the mainland?" Jinx persisted.

"I sssaid be quiet," snarled the Slipstri, tipping his head at a dangerous angle so that it appeared that Tobias might slide from his horns. Jinx fell silent, fuming inwardly. He felt uneasy, disquieted by the Slipstri's odd actions and suspicious of his motives. What could he do, though? Tobias's life relied upon the Slipstri's cooperation, and Jinx couldn't risk irritating the serpent lest his kindness run out. The Slipstri righted his head and continued forward.

The Slipstri and his passengers drew nearer to the World's Teeth. They now loomed before Jinx, thrusting over fifty feet out of the water. Jinx shivered slightly as he observed their weathered surfaces, imagining how truly massive the stone structures must be to still thrust up from the water even as they rested on the ocean floor. The Slipstri strove forward steadily, closing the distance to the grim monoliths. As he neared them, Jinx noticed something odd in the waters ahead. There was a perfect strip of calm, perhaps two feet wide, stretching out in both directions as far as he could see. The water's surface rippled and undulated normally on either side of the band, though the waters beyond it seemed greener for some reason, but those within its boundaries might well have been frozen ice.

"What's tha--" Jinx began, only to have his question answered as the Slipstri lunged across the closer edge of the barrier. It seemed that he had swum beneath a great waterfall of invisible molasses. Jinx felt a great weight pressing down on him, something viscous oozing down from the top of his head to weigh down the brim of his feathery "hat." The mysterious substance trickled into his open beak, choking off the half-formed question as it strove to force itself down his throat. He reflexively closed his eyes before they, too, could become exposed to the sinister muck. Everywhere that the vile goo touched stung and burned, the itching sensation that Jinx had felt on the boat magnified a thousand times over.

Though it couldn't have lasted more than a couple seconds, the ordeal seemed to stretch on for an eternity as the Slipstri strove to break free from the cloying embrace of the odd substance. At last, his efforts were rewarded, his snout breaking into open air once more. Soon, Jinx, too, was being borne out of the strange muck. He gasped for air as it retreated from his still-open beak, uncertainly flexed his wings as they, too, were freed. At last, the miring substance reluctantly releases its hold on his tailfeathers. With its retreat the pain of its touch departed as well, and Jinx sighed with relief. Sensing that the danger to them had passed, Jinx opened his eyes, only to have a new pain replace the old.

Blinding radiance exploded in his vision, fiery light racing along his optic nerve and into his muddle brain. Jinx squeezed his eyes shut again with a small moan. Beneath him he could feel the Slipstri rocketing along once more, his tail finally extricated from whatever that strange patch had been. He seemed oblivious to the burning light.

Reluctantly, Jinx opened his eyes once more, though he couldn't force them wider than slits. Though they watered furiously, he was able to make out the area around him well enough. Nothing in his surroundings seemed to have changed, though they were now passing directly beside the World's Teeth. All that he could see before him was the sea and empty sky, as before. As no explanation seemed forthcoming, Jinx asked, "What's that light?"

The Slipstri chuckled, a noise that startled the Murkrow, who had been accustomed to hearing only derisive hisses and snarls from the huge serpent. "That," the Slipstri informed him, "Isss the great Sssol himssself, watching over you. Don't worry; you'll get usssed to it in due courssse."

Jinx was amazed. Was it possible that the sun could suddenly gain such fury? Curious, he glanced back over his shoulder to see if anything seemed different in the land behind. There were the World's Teeth, now basked in the unusual radiance of the sun, and beyond that…beyond that was nothing! No trace of Waytar was to be seen, not even a smudge on the horizon that would indicate land. "It's gone," Jinx breathed in shock.

The Slipstri didn't even turn around to confirm the Murkrow's statement. "It'sss not gone, jussst hidden. No one on thisss ssside of the ssshield can sssee anything of Waytar, nor can they enter itsss bordersss."

"That was the shield that we came through?" Jinx gasped. "But…it's supposed to be able to keep anything and everything out of--or in--Waytar! How could we pass through it?"

"Oh, you believe thossse foolsss?" snorted the Slipstri. "They only wisssh that the ssshield were that ssstrong. Oh, yesss. And that isss why we had to leave, you sssee? You Murkrow are rather…dangerousss…to them. More ssso, the people who guide them. I could not take you back to land, or they would sssimply try to him or yourssself again. But never fear; there are few who can passs through the ssshield. We jussst happen to be three of the chosssen few who can."

"Chosen? By whom?" Jinx asked. "And why are they after us?"

"No, no, that wasssn't the bessst way to put it," grunted the Sliptstri. "Not chosssen, but unfortunately lucky, I sssupossse. It mattersss little. Asss to why they are after usss, well, that ssshould be obviousss."

"But it's not," Jinx replied petulantly. The Slipstri ignored him. Their trip continued in virtual silence, only the shushing sound of water gushing past the Slipstri's striving body and the sighing of wind across the ocean being heard. The landscape remained featureless; if anything, it became less so, as the World's Teeth at last disappeared into the distance behind the trio. Tobias seemed unchanged; his body was warmer now, at least, but he still showed no signs of life.

Hours rolled past. The sun sank towards the waters behind them, and at last Jinx's eyes, which had barely grown accustomed to its burning fury, were granted some reprieve. Though they were apparently still far from shore, the Slipstri slowed down, eventually coming to a halt, floating languidly in the middle of the open ocean.

"Why're we stopping?" Jinx cawed. "We're in the middle of the ocean! There's nothing for miles around!"

"Thisss isss where your free ride endsss," the Slipstri replied. "I will go no further. I have strayed far enough from my territory already. But never fear…here there resssidesss a…friend…of mine who will carry you to your journey'sss end."

"Who is this friend?" Jinx asked suspiciously. The Slipstri merely hissed quietly, as though shushing the Murkrow. He then suddenly gave a loud bellow that rolled out across the empty water. Jinx nearly lost his grip on Tobias, glaring angrily down at the Slipstri as the huge serpent cocked his head slightly, waiting for any sort of reply.

The call was repeated three times before the Slipstri received his answer. After the fourth roar, by which point Jinx was beginning to go deaf and grumpy, a huge form rose from the waters before them. Water sloughed from azure scales and opaque membranes as the creature welled up from the depths. "Alsokaran!" it roared, peering down at the Slipstri from on high. "How dare you enter my territory?"

"Might I remind you, dear Lokalor, that I merely permit you to retain thisss asss your territory?" asked the Slipstri, whom Jinx assumed must be Alsokaran. "I am merely asssking that you, my tenant, perform one sssmall tasssk for me in return for my generosssity in allowing you to live here."

The Gyrados, for this is what Jinx found Lokalor to be, scowled even more ferociously than was normal for one of his ilk. "A small favor? What is the occasion?"

"I merely require that you transssport this human and thisss Murkrow to the nearest human sssettlement," Alsokaran replied. "And the occasssion…I am feeling particularly generousss. Ssso generousss, in fact, that I'm willing to allow you to come away from thisss encounter alive, sssshould you accept."

Jinx was shocked. Alsokaran seemed completely sure of himself, staring coolly up at the towering Gyardos as though he had just announced that it might possibly be sunny tomorrow. How could the Slipstri hope to battle a Gyrados--and an obviously powerful specimen of a Gyardos, at that--while hampered with a comatose human and a tiny Murkrow?

Lokalor had no doubt of Alsokaran's sincerity, however. He seemed to droop a bit, his long body sinking a few feet back into the water. After a moment of silence, he finally acquiesced. "Very well, Alsokaran," he spat. "I will carry your…human friend and his charge to the mainland." He bowed his great head, bringing it down so that it was level with Alsokaran.

The Slipstri smiled indulgently at the cowed Gyrados, then tipped his head forward so that Tobias slid from his slick horns, Jinx fluttering up and out of the way. Lokalor snorted, tossing his head so that the boy came to rest high up on his forehead, just in front of the major ridge that rose from his head. The arrangement would be uncomfortable for the Gyrados, but there was really nowhere else that he could hope to carry Tobias. Lokalor straightened his neck once more, lifting Tobias into the sky. Jinx landed upon the boy's shoulder once more and peered back down at the Slipstri below.

"Sssee to it that the boy arrivesss sssafely," Alsokaran called. "I will hear of it if you ssshould dissspossse of him, Lokalor. And I can asssure you, my punissshment will be mossst terrible. Ssso carry him carefully. Farewell, Murkrow."

"Thank you, Alsokaran," Jinx replied, genuinely grateful to the powerful Slipstri.

Alsokaran snorted derisively. "I didn't do it for you, or for your foolisssh guide, for that matter. It would truly have been a worthwhile treat to watch the boy perisssh. But I think that it will be even more amusssing to watch what will transsspire if he isss kept alive. You are in my debt, Murkrow. I expect to be repaid in full for my trouble." And, with a flash of fluked tail and scaled body, he dove beneath the surface, vanishing from sight.

Lokalor growled in the general direction that Alsokaran had apparently been headed, then wheeled about and began to plow through the water, considerably more slowly than had the Slipstri. "You're lucky, Murkrow. If it weren't for Alsokaran, I would gladly tear you both to pieces in an instant for entering my territory so flippantly." Jinx, not knowing what to reply to this, remained silent. Lokalor continued, "Though you're even more lucky that he helped you at all. Why he did such a thing I'm sure I'll never know. Never fear, I'll get you to land. But my generosity ends there. If I see you again, Murkrow, I'll be sure to kill you."

The Gyrados fell silent, undulating sullenly across the trackless ocean, intent on a destination only he could envision. Jinx, wholly distrustful of the great sea beast, clung to his guide's unconscious form, red eyes watching as night crept over the open waters, marveling at the strange points of light that appeared in the sky next to the familiar moon. Its usually pale face shone a piercing silver, and Jinx wondered sullenly why, in this unfamiliar land, it had to be so light, even at night. He was still watching as the dark line of shore appeared on the horizon, drawing closer by the minute.


	15. Foreign Shores

Author's Notes: I've gotten a bit behind in my writing, mostly due to finals. They're over now, though, thank heaven.

You think tarsiers are scary-looking, Yellowspottedlizard? I think that they're sorta cute. I mean, they have the big eyes, and the cute ears, and they're all fuzzy...but I guess that's just me. Heh. As for Tobias getting a girlfriend, I'm not so sure. The kid is only eleven, after all, which would be about fourth or fifth grade nowadays. At that point, my brother was still taking regular cootie shots. Not really the love-interest demographic. But who knows? Only I. Mwahaha....

**Chapter Fifteen: Foreign Shores**

Tobias awoke completely disoriented. He felt weak and confused, unable to remember where he was or how he came to be there. Blinking blearily, he peered out at his surroundings.

He was lying in a bed, one covered with several heavy blankets. The room around him was small and sterile in appearance, the walls a stark white and the tiled floor a dull brown, though it seemed to have some coating atop it, as it had a peculiar sheen to it. It was brightly lit, intense sunlight streaming in through a window to his left. Huddled against the wall were two armless chairs. Tobias squinted at them uncertainly; they were done in an unusual style, apparently incorporating some sort of metal into their structure. A large brown lump was settled in one of them. Tobias recognized it to be his backpack, his three chimes lying neatly atop it, glinting reassuringly back at him. There was some sort of strange black box mounted high on the wall in one corner of the room; its front panel was slightly reflective, showing up a brownish hue in the bright sunlight. Tobias shifted slowly, stretching cramped muscles experimentally.

As he did so, he alerted Jinx to his wakening, and the Murkrow, who had been perched on the headboard behind his guide's head, cawed happily and hopped down to land on Tobias's stomach. The boy grunted in surprise, then broke into a grin. "Jinx! Where am I?"

Jinx replied with a series of rapid cackles, completely incomprehensible to Tobias, and sauntered nearer to the guide's face, peering at him anxiously. His large eyes were bloodshot, and his feathers drooped wearily.

"What's that matter, Jinx?" Tobias asked as he noticed this. "You look terrible."

Jinx made a dismissive gesture with one wing, croaking something breezily. He allowed Tobias to stroke his chest feathers, apparently overjoyed that his guide had been revived. Tobias, meanwhile, was still puzzled by his surroundings. His right wrist itched; he scratched it absentmindedly, only to wince as it responded by burning painfully. Bringing the appendage into view, he was astonished to find that it was an angry red color, with disgusting strips of skin apparently peeling off of it. In fact, the entire length of his arm seemed to be likewise afflicted. In shock, Tobias inspected his other arm and was puzzled to find that the same affliction had taken hold of the back of it, though not the inside. What was this odd skin condition, and how did he come to have it?

As he was pondering this, the room's door opened. A tall, willowy woman in a stark white apron and likewise white hat bustled into the room, holding a clipboard in one hand. A blobby pink creature that reminded Tobias of an oversized Jigglypuff followed behind, a similar hat resting on its head. "Ah, you're awake," the woman observed. Tobias could only goggle back at her.

The woman marked something on her clipboard, and Tobias watched her with shock. She had brown hair! And her eyes, too, were a brownish color. Her skin was pale, more peach than yellow. What sort of person was this?

The woman looked back up at him and smiled. "I'm nurse Swallowbend, by the way. You've been out for quite some time. How do you feel?"

The question seemed ludicrous to Tobias in the face of all of the other ones swimming around his brain. At last he managed to stammer out, "I'm…all right, I guess."

"Hungry?" the nurse persisted, studying him intently.

Tobias was surprised to find that, now that she mentioned it, he was, really, very hungry. The nagging emptiness of his stomach had been masked by other emotions, those of shock and confusion, and only rose to the surface now. He nodded mutely.

"Get a tray for me, would you, Chansey?" she asked the pink creature.

"Sey," it replied, turning to leave the room. Tobias watched it leave with interest. It must be a Pokemon, one that he hadn't yet encountered. He itched to dart over to his pack and grab his guidebook to look it up as soon as possible, but beneath the nurse's inquisitive stare, he was unable to.

Tobias struggled to sit up further in bed, his muscles still unreliable. The nurse approached him, peering down at him curiously. "That's quite a sunburn you have," she noted. As though her mention of the odd skin condition caused an involuntary reaction, Tobias's skin began to itch one more, and he unwisely scratched it. The nurse frowned and muttered, "I think we might need to reapply the salve if it's starting to itch again."

"Su-sunburn?" Tobias stuttered, completely lost. He'd never heard of the sun burning anything at all, even in the hot, dry summer months that descended upon southern Waytar.

The nurse nodded. "Yes, it's quite severe. You must have been exposed for a long time. Do you remember anything of what happened recently?"

Tobias thought hard, trying to remember recent events. He had been on his way to Frostdown, had taken a ship. What was it called. Sea…sea-something. Beyond that, he wasn't sure. He shook his head reluctantly.

The nurse frowned. "Well, I'll tell you all that we know, and see if that reminds you at all. It was quite extraordinary, actually. We've had you here since last night. A Gyrados carried you in to shore and dumped you on the beach. Funny, it didn't seem very fond of you, but it was obviously willing to carry you from quite a ways away, if your sunburn has anything to say about it. Some locals saw the incident and brought you here, along with your Murkrow. That's quite some bird you have there," she remarked, nodding at Jinx, "very loyal. It hasn't strayed from your side in all the hours that you were asleep. Anyway, you were suffering from severe sunburn and hypothermia, and we decided to take you in here. It looked as though you might have fallen off of a boat or something, because everything that you owned was soaked through. It's all over there, as you can see. We dried it out as best we could, but I'm afraid some of it may be ruined."

The pink Pokemon reappeared, waddling over to the bed and setting a tray down across Tobias's stomach. It was laden with food and the smell made Tobias instantly ravenous. He dug in with gusto, barely noticing what he was eating or having the time to marvel at the strange substance from which the white fork had been formed.

The nurse waited patiently as he finished off the last of the food before pressing onward. "Now, would you please give me your name and phone number so that I can call your parents and let them know that you're all right? We couldn't find any sort of identification on you."

Tobias froze. What was he supposed to say? He couldn't let them contact his parents, and if he gave a false name they'd soon find that no one by that name lived in Firstseed, or anywhere else, for that matter. But what was a phone number, and how could one use it to "call" his parents? He began to wonder once more where he was.

Misinterpreting Tobias's confused silence, the nurse offered, "Or don't you have a phone?"

"No," replied Tobias hastily. "No, I don't."

"Well, that will make things more difficult," sighed the nurse. "All right then, just your name and where you live so that we can send a letter."

Tobias was once again presented with the dilemma of how to present his false information. He then realized that of course any sort of message would take at least a couple of days at his parents' home, and by then he could be off on his way once more. "Thomas Goldspur. I live in Firstseed," he announced.

The nurse wrote this down, brow furrowing. "Firstseed? I've never heard of it."

"I'm not surprised. It's really small," Tobias told her.

"Well, I'm sure that the computer knows about it, even if I don't," the nurse observed. "Well, now that that's taken care of, there's really not much else to attend to. You seem to have recovered fairly well. I'll bring you some salve for your sunburn, and some sunscreen as well. Other than that, I don't think that there's anything else to be done."

The Chansey had trundled off once more, returning with a small card, which it held up to the nurse. Blinking down at it uncomprehendingly, nurse Willowbend then smiled and accepted it. "You'll need to present this at the desk when you wish to check out," she told him.

Tobias accepted the card, and the nurse turned to leave the room, presumably to find the salve and "sunscreen," pink thing waddling along behind. Tobias was left alone with his thoughts and Jinx. He lay in the bed, trying to remember what had happened to him recently that had caused him to end up here…wherever here was. He made a mental note of that question, determined to remember to ask the nurse the next time that she appeared, no matter what strange wonders she brought along to distract him.

The Murkrow had settled himself drowsily on the boy's chest, eyes closed as he dozed. Tobias turned to squint out of the bright window as he pondered. He had gone to Washbeach to find a boat up to Frostdown. He'd found one, and it was…something to do with birds and water. He frowned in frustration. He remembered something about Pidgeots…they would whip up a wind to keep the boat moving if it foundered. Yes, that was it. The _Sea Pidgeot_. And on the boat, not much happened, or at least not anything important that he could remember. The trip had been rather uneventful, in fact. Until…

The mental image of a coiling blue body, yellow horns and eyes gleaming up at the awestruck humans peering down at it caused Tobias to shudder. The memories surrounding the images came whirling around in a confused jumble, settling into a disorganized stack of jigsaw pieces that Tobias patiently snapped together.

There had been a large Pokemon, a Slipstri, one that menaced the boat near the end of his trip. He remembered being fascinated by it, and more than a little frightened, too. And he had leaned out across the railing to get a better look at it, perhaps farther than was entirely wise. Then there had come some sort of violent upheaval, the ship listing and bucking him from the deck. After that, there were only terrifying recollections of water closing in over his head and darkness closing in over his thoughts as his air slowly ran out.

Tobias shied away from these memories, instead grimly surveying what he had found as a whole. So, he had been on the ship, headed for Frostdown, and had fallen overboard. Somehow, he had been rescued, and brought here, wherever here was. And he had managed to become "sunburned" while doing so.

Why had the boat suddenly leapt from the water like that? It wasn't a normal behavior for watercraft, he knew. Perhaps it had hit some concealed rock or something. But no, the captain would have known about anything like that and steered clear, Slipstri or no. Perhaps the Pokemon itself had had something to do with the incident. But how? And why?

Tobias sighed. He almost wished that he couldn't remember the incident at all. It would certainly put an end to all of this muddled speculation.

Nurse Swallowbend reappeared, holding a pair of tubes in her hands. "Here we are," she announced, setting one of the tubes down on the bed and the other to Tobias. "That's the best that we have for sunburn," she told him. "It doesn't last all that long and isn't very waterproof, I'm afraid, but it stops the itching well enough. Just slather it on wherever it's itching."

Tobias took the tube, fascinated. He didn't make any move to use the substance, however, schooling himself carefully to avoid giving in to temptation and inspecting the object thoroughly. It was intriguing enough just to hold, its surface pliable and impossibly smooth, yet apparently quite tough. Instead, he asked, "Where am I, anyway?"

Nurse Willowbend rolled her eyes, mentally berating herself. "Oh, how silly of me," she sighed. "I can't believe that I forgot to tell you. This is the Cianwood Pokemon Center, dear."

Tobias was nonplussed by the name. The nurse continued to loom over him, and he absently unscrewed the cap to the odd tube and, squirting some of the pasty white substance within into his left hand, rubbed it over a particularly inflamed area of his right arm as he trolled back through his memories for any mention of the town. "I don't mean to be rude, but it would be best if you left as quickly as you could," the nurse told him after she had assured herself that Tobias had no difficulty applying the salve. "We're incredibly busy right now, and if you're feeling recovered enough to travel, we would appreciate if you vacated the room so that someone else in more need could claim it. It's the Tentacool season, you see, and we've had countless stinging incidents already, despite all of the warnings that are posted along the beach. We're rather full." Tobias thanked the nurse for her help and assured her that he would be leaving soon, and she thanked him in kind and turned to leave the room. Before she had quite made it to the door, however, she turned back to the bed. "When you want to check out, just head straight down the hall to your left to the desk all the way at the end. Show the receptionist there your card and she'll check you out, okay?"

Tobias nodded, and the nurse smiled and swept out of the room, Chansey at her heels. With the nurse gone, Tobias resolved to leave as quickly as possible. If the center intended to send a letter to his parents, he wanted to be a considerable distance away before they realized that no Thomas Goldspur lived in Firstseed. He pushed the blankets aside, Jinx rousing as he slid off his guide's stomach. Tobias swung his legs down to the strange tiled floor. After sitting for a moment gathering himself on the edge of the bed, he pulled himself up, using the bedpost to aid him. Shakily, he walked across the room and collapsed into the chair next to the one housing his pack.

He grimaced as he saw the state that it was in. It had indeed been submerged and then, upon being sun-dried, become stiff. He removed the bells from its top with satisfaction, hooking them back on to his belt. No doubt Accemenla and Chevron were wondering why they had been cooped up for so long. He could only hope that one of them hadn't let themselves out at some point and drowned or wandered off somewhere.

His food was ruined; the salted meat was now even saltier, but bloated and unappetizing. The berries had been soaked as well, though they seemed to have fared somewhat better than the meat. The bread was a soggy mess which Tobias made a disgusted face at as he shoved it from the cover of his guidebook.

He was horrified to see the damage done to the huge tome. Its pages had warped, the ink running in many places. Some pages stuck together, and no amount of gentle prying could pull them apart with tearing information off of either page. Tobias turned it over in his hands sadly. It had been his faithful companion throughout the entire journey thus far almost as much as had Jinx, and now it was utterly ruined. He optimistically tried to glean some information about Cianwood from the map therein, but it had been so badly damaged as to be mostly illegible. Still, he was obviously somewhere on a coastline, perhaps on one of the western islands.

He next retrieved his fire temple certification medallion. Though its red ribbon was looking a bit worse for wear, the token itself was still as lustrous and valid as ever. Setting it aside, he was frustrated to see that his compass was wrecked, water having seeped under the casing and condensing on the glass canopy, rendering it illegible. His flint, of course, was fine, but what was this other stone, here? Tobias picked up the smooth gray stone and inspected it carefully. Seeing the strange etchings that pockmarked one corner, he was suddenly reminded of his journey across the plains, when Chevron had brought this enigmatic rock to him. Tobias shot a rueful glance at his guidebook; whatever information it might have contained on the subject of ancient runes was now lost to him.

His money pouch was the last item to be unearthed, and Tobias surveyed the soggy scene with regret. He was going to need to buy more food before he set out anywhere, and, if he could, another guidebook as well. His winnings from the temple were looking very meager indeed in the face of this unexpected disaster. He sighed and shoved what he considered salvageable back into his pack. On a whim, he shoved the guidebook back in as well. He would feel naked without its comfortable weight on his back, even if that weight had nearly borne him to his doom beneath the waves. He was left with the unreadable compass and a soggy pile of mush. He took another quick scan of the room, hoping to locate a place for him to dispose of the mess. Up against the far wall was a gray bin. Tobias heaved himself from the chairs and, after giving his weak limbs a second to fortify themselves, staggered across to it and dumped his garbage in. He then turned to look back at the bed. "It's time to go, Jinx," he informed the Murkrow, who had remained crouched reluctantly on the coverlet, trying to catch a final quick nap before starting off on the road again. Giving an irritated caw, Jinx flapped reluctantly into the air and over to Tobias's head, where he settled back into a roosting position with a contented sigh. Tobias, grinning, turned and left the room.

Outside he was presented with an entire hallway full of nearly identical doors. As starkly white as Tobias's room and bustling with activity, it reminded the young guide more of a city street than of a Pokemon center. He turned left and started towards his destination, his steps growing stronger as he progressed, absently reading the number plates on doors as he passed. Nurses brushed by him, intent on some unknown destination. Tobias caught himself goggling after one who had a peculiarly golden head of hair, entirely different from what Tobias was used to. What sort of place was this?

It was then that it dawned upon Tobias. Of course! This must be one of those colonies where those few in Waytar born with unusual traits, such as differently colored eyes or hair, sought refuge. Often treated unkindly in their hometowns, such people typically immigrated to one of the outlying islands, where several such colonies existed. All the more reason to be gone quickly; for once, he would stand out like a sore thumb amongst this dazzling menagerie of bizarre humans.

Continuing down the hall, Tobias nearly tripped over another pink creature which trundled by him with surprising speed. Larger than the Chansey he had seen earlier and a darker shad of pink, he guessed it must be an evolution or earlier form of some sort.

The identical closed doors with their neat number plates next to them gave way to open, doorless rooms with red signs affixed to the wall next to them. Tobias stopped to peer into one of these. Within lay numerous beds, all housing some sort of Pokemon. It reminded Tobias almost exactly of the back area of the center that he had been in before. All manner of fiendish devices seemed grafted to the Pokemon therein, however. A massive orange dragonlike creature that lay sprawled on a cot near the door had a tube running from its scrawny foreleg to a bag of clear liquid suspended next to the bed. One of its blue wings was almost completely covered by a plaster cast, bandages crisscrossing its leathery hide. An odd machine nestled near the beast's tail, upon which sputtered an uncertain flame. Mysterious lights blinked from machines all around the room, machines far more intricate and sinister than any that Tobias had ever seen before. Small blips and whines crisscrossed the open space within the room, merging with labored breathing and small whimpers of pain in a terrible ongoing hum. Chilled, Tobias backed away slightly. What sort of Pokemon center was this? It seemed to be hurting Pokemon as opposed to helping them.

The red plaque next to the doorframe read, "POKEMON WARD 2". Below was a smaller sign, explaining that only Pokemon with severe injuries or illnesses were to be admitted. Shuddering, Tobias turned away and continued down the hall.

He soon emerged from the hallway through a door that opened to the left of the center's main desk. At first, the light and noise that assaulted him beyond the hallway paralyzed Tobias. Boys and girls of about his age chatted and lounged all throughout the center's large common area. Pokemon of all sizes and descriptions followed their owners around the large room or romped together between the humans' legs. Some were familiar to Tobias, but the majority were entirely new to him. A large cluster of people were gathered around something in the far corner, and no matter how he craned his neck Tobias could not make out what it was that they were staring at.

The teenagers' strange attire baffled Tobias. It was a riot of bright colors and bold patterns. Many shirts sported amazing paintings of Pokemon on their fronts. Tobias even saw some boys wearing shirts that were a strange swirl of many colors. Without exception, however, the people seemed to have a set of red-and-white orbs on their person.

Baffled, Tobias decided to try to get to the bottom of the mystery as soon as he had finished checking out of the center. He turned and walked over to the desk. "I was in one of the hospital rooms," he told the receptionist, wearing the same nurse's attire as his caregiver had been. "I'd like to check out." He presented the card and the receptionist nodded, inspecting it. She turned to a strange device resting on her desk, one hand reaching for the neat rows of buttons sitting before it, when a disgruntled nurse burst through the doors that Tobias had recently exited.

"Wait!" she cried, dashing over to the desk. Tobias was surprised to recognize her as nurse Swallowbend. She was scowling angrily as she reached the counter. "Don't let this boy check out," she commanded, shooting an angry glare at Tobias.


	16. No Escape

Author's Notes: Wow, lots of reviews (and one new reviewer)! Thank you all! To answer a couple of questions...

**Facia: **Somehow, I don't think that Tobias getting accused of Pokemon theft is likely. After all, he doesn't have any Pokeballs on him, does he?

**WindieDragon: **Ooh, I didn't know that! -Runs off to look.-

**Angel of Hope and Miracles: **I can't really answer that question now. I'm sure that the Waytarians must have had some good reason for hiding their region, though, right?

**Kokiri Kid: **Thanks for reviewing! And yep, Cianwood is a town in Johto.

**Chapter 16: No Escape**

Tobias felt shock and horror grip his chest as he turned to face the furious nurse. The receptionist shot Tobias a perplexed look and dutifully held the card back out to him. Nurse Swallowbend, however, quickly reached out and nabbed it before he could take it back. "You're coming with me, young man," she informed Tobias in a curt tone. Taking his arm in a surprisingly strong grip, she steered him around to the wall near the reception desk. Tobias was dragged along behind her, struggling to keep up with her brisk, agitated trot. Jinx was awakened by one particularly loud jerk as the nurse swerved to avoid a Chansey coming in the other direction, pushing a stretcher on which lay a comatose Gloom.

Their final destination proved to be a back corner of the main area of the center. Though far less heavily occupied than the common area itself, several guides hung about, their Pokemon milling idly at their feet as the humans themselves fiddled with the large machines set in a long row across wall. Tobias itched to stop and inspect them. There seemed to be windows mounted on them, images flickering across them like ripples across a pond. This was not to be, however, as the nurse continued to march on to their eventual destination.

Nurse Swallowbend halted before the wall, and beckoned Tobias to look upon it. Tobias did, craning his neck upward in awe. Mounted on the wall was an enormous map, done in exquisite detail. It depicted a huge continent, one split almost in half by a shambling mountain range that ran up and along the northern spine of the landmass. Snaking rivers and wide swaths of forest dominated the lowlands, with islands scattered about in the south and west, each neatly labeled. Indeed, everything on the map was labeled; hundreds of small dots and stars indicated the presence of towns or cities; winding black lines marked the main paths leading to and from each. A small tag, affixed to the map in the southwestern corner, read, "You are here" with a helpful red arrow pointing out a dot of decent size at the far end of an outreaching peninsula.

Hundreds of towns and cities, and not one that was recognizable. Tobias stepped forward involuntarily, panic building up inside of him. Jinx, uncomprehending, was admiring the way that the glass case that housed the map reflected his bright eyes back at him. His guide's eyes swept over the massive display, desperately searching for any sign at all of home. He looked to the east, searching for the expansive Larvari Plains. They were not there, their waving fronds replaced by a scruffy cluster of mountains, marked "Rock Tunnel," and a diminutive dot marking out "Lavender Town." He searched in vain for Mt. Vernalik, the Dakrill Forest, anything. None were to be found. Surely this must be some sort of mistake? Perhaps this colossal area was actually just an enlargement of a fairly sizeable island? But no, there were far more human settlements here than on the whole of the Waytarian mainland.

The implications were too much for Tobias to force his mind around. He backed away once more, as one backs away from a giant, slavering creature prepared to devour them whole. The nurse, oblivious to the boy's inner turmoil, looked down at him sternly. "This," she announced, "is our center's map of the Johto and Kanto regions. As I'm sure you know, as every single center in the regions has one, and you appear to be a trainer who has undoubtedly visited one of out establishments before. Now, allow me to attract your attention to one small detail."

She made a sweeping gesture with her arm, indicating the vast spread of the map. Tobias cringed. "Not a single mention of Firstseed on here. This map, I might remind you, is updated yearly by the League, and includes every recognized human settlement on the continent. Clearly, there is no Firstseed in this region. I have checked both the Hoenn and Orre regions, and neither boasts any such town or city. Which leads me to conclude, mister Goldspur, if that is actually your name, that you are lying about your place of origin."

Despite his terror and confusion, Tobias spared a bit of emotion to be indignant at this statement. Out of all of the lies that he'd been forced to utter on his journey thus far, that had not been one of them. He had indeed hearkened from Firstseed…wherever it was.

"An interesting plan, mister Goldspur," the nurse continued, heedless of Tobias's terror-stricken expression. "Lie about your place of origin, and then attempt to leave the center as quickly as possible. One might almost think that you were trying to escape something. Though," she mused, brow furrowing, "one might wonder why you decided to entirely fabricate a town. You must have known that it would take much longer to find you if you had picked one that had actually existed. Never matter," she concluded, face clearing into an expression of resolute reproach, "you didn't escape. Now, what are you running from?"

At the moment, Tobias was running from nurse Swallowbend. He continued to back away, his confused brain adding this new assault to the jumble spinning about in his skull. "I…I'm not running from anyone. Anything! Not running from anything. I…I don't know what…"

"Come, come, you're not fooling anyone," nurse Swallowbend told Tobias irritably, tapping her foot impatiently. "If anything, you're making it harder on yourself. You don't want to be called to account for lying to the authorities, do you?"

No, Tobias didn't. He pushed aside the frenzied questions that burned in his mind to better look at the more immediate problem of how he was going to escape. He couldn't allow himself to be recaptured; if his true identity was discovered, he would no doubt face far worse than the loss of guiding privileges. He tried to calm himself down, think through his options carefully. He needed to come up with something that would make him sound like the victim, something that would cause the nurse to sympathize. Meanwhile, he stalled for time.

"I…I can't tell you," he muttered, looking down at his shoes as though ashamed and terrified.

Nurse Swallowbend was not easily distracted. "And why is that?" she prompted him, still looking sternly down at the apparently cowed boy.

"There are people after me," Tobias admitted. "I don't know why, but they're trying to kill me. I had to give you a false name and hometown because they're watching my house and if you sent a message to my parents they'd learn I was here and come after me again."

"Oh, my!" gasped nurse Swallowbend, horrified. "How dreadful! You should have told me. Who is it that's after you, dear?"

Tobias bit his lip, thinking hard. What was a good name for a criminal organization? Fortunately, nurse Swallowbend provided him with one.

"Was it Team Rocket?" she asked Tobias anxiously.

Team…rocket? What an odd name. But at least it would probably satisfy the nurse. Tobias nodded, attempting to look pitiable and on the verge of tears. Not difficult, as he was truly ready to break down. This place was too strange, it was somehow wrong. He couldn't think, he couldn't concentrate on the real issue here. And now he was back to lying and skulking away instead of being noble and honorable like all guides are supposed to be.

"Well, dear, I'm sure that there's something we can do," nurse Swallowbend assured him. "There, now, don't cry. If you'll just tell me your real name and where your house is, then I can contact the police in that town and have them round up those horrible criminals."

Tobias looked up, arranging his face into an expression of hopeful relief. "Really?" he asked. His brain was churning as he created a new identity for himself. This time he would say that he came from a large city, one that nurse Swallowbend would have to know about. He didn't want to use one from the map on the wall; the strange names slithered from his mind and he didn't want to risk studying it to pick one out, lest the nurse see him trying to select one and grow suspicious.

"Of course, dear," nurse Swallowbend assured him. "Really, the police and we nurses are here to help. If you ever have trouble like this, you should tell someone right away. You can't possibly hope to get away from one of these criminal organizations all on your own. Now, your name?"

"Sean Valleyhold," he replied dutifully. "I'm from Vastoak." There, that was a good choice. Vastoak was Waytar's capitol city; founded by the man himself, Mayan Waytar, it was initially built near the enormous Redgrove forest. As years went by and the population of Vastoak expanded, residents actually began to build up instead of out, crafting homes high up in the boughs of Redgrove's legendary soaring oaks.

"Vastoak?" nurse Swallowbend asked. Tobias watched her reaction anxiously. He caught his breath as a cloud of suspicion descended once more over her face. "What region is that in?" she asked Tobias.

"Waytar," Tobias answered. He didn't really know what a region was.

"That's not a region!" snapped nurse Swallowbend. "Nice try! I would think that you'd learn to stop making up places."

"You've never heard of Waytar?" Tobias asked, befuddled. That was impossible.

"Of course not!" nurse Swallowbend replied angrily. She advanced on Tobias, apparently intent on dragging him off once more, presumably to take him to the police. Tobias's gaze darted around the center. This area was fairly empty, giving him a straight line of sight to the center's front doors. They were strange doors, with glass set in them almost as if they were windows. Still, if he could just stall the nurse long enough to slip away, maybe he could make it out of town before anyone caught up with him. He shrank back from nurse Swallowbend, reaching for one of the chimes at his belt. He would need Accemenla's help should any trouble present itself.

Nurse Swallowbend halted as she saw Tobias pull one of the long chimes off of his belt. She seemed more puzzled than afraid, however, warily eying what she thought was just an unusual musical instrument with confusion as Tobias held it up.

The clear note that sounded, accompanied by Tobias's command of, "Accemenla, I need your help!" brought her back to reality. She charged forward angrily, less than amused by having been put off by the boy's strange stunt, only to draw up short again when the mist that drifted out of the vibrating chime settled into a short, furry creature that could only be a Pokemon.

Accemenla's head swiveled almost all of the way around, her shrewd eyes peering up at Tobias. _What's going on? Where are we?_ she demanded.

"It doesn't matter. We just have to get out of here, fast! I need you to clear out anyone that gets in our way with confusion, all right?"

_Hang on, _Accemenla responded tartly, but Tobias was already off and running. He dashed for the doors of the center, Jinx clutching desperately at his hair to prevent being blow off. Growling in irritation, Accemenla bounded after her guide.

Nurse Swallowbend, who had been momentarily transfixed by the strange apparition that appeared out of the boy's musical instrument, recovered sufficiently to call out, "Stop him! Stop that boy!"

A nearby guide who had been working with one of the machines along the wall looked up at the nurse's call. He spotted the fleeing Tobias and called upon his Geodude, who had been lurking near his ankles, to stop the boy. He issued no further command, however, after catching sight of the Pokemon scrabbling across the wax floor to catch up with her guide. Geodude needed no further urging, however, and by rolling quickly across the floor was soon in a position to grab at the running boy with one of his stony hands.

Accemenla dutifully protected Tobias, her eyes glowing blue as she tapped into her psychic powers. Geodude was sent flying backwards, hitting his now-advancing guide in the stomach and knocking them both to the floor. She smiled to herself when the human did not get back up, merely groaning incoherently as the Geodude rolled itself off of his body and came to rest at his side, rumbling apologetically.

Tobias was exhilarated as he flew towards the door. With the Geodude out of the way, there was nothing preventing him from reaching the doors. He was only five feet away, running as hard as he could. Out of nowhere, a powerful jet of water blasted him from his feet. He slid across the slick floor, dazed and confused. Jinx, who had let go of his guide's head just in time to avoid being knocked away with him, was now moving to attack the creature that had sprayed the water.

It was a hulking crocodilian creature, standing upright on its hind legs and grinning at Tobias with a huge mouth full of jutting teeth. He casually swatted Jinx away, the Murkrow spiraling downwards to hit the floor in a confused heap. Tobias looked desperately around for Accemenla, his heart sinking when he saw that she, too, had been captured.

The Tarsix was writhing in grasp of some unknown creature. It appeared to be some sort of huge lobster, the pincer fastened about Accemenla's body a bright red color. It seemed utterly unaffected by the blasts of psychic energy that she sent at it, and the Tarsix soon reverted to pure physical attacks. Her claws rebounded from the thick carapace of the crustacean, however, and its powerful grip remained sure.

Numerous guides had gathered around the scene, staring in wonder at the strange scene before them, the dazed, sun burnt boy sitting in a large puddle of water on the center's floor, the boy behind him struggling back to his feet, gasping like a landed fish and clutching his midsection, and the disgruntled nurse dashing quickly to the middle of the scene. Most eyes were trained on Accemenla, however; the center's guides seemed fascinated by the Tarsix for some reason.

Tobias took advantage of their awe and struggled back to his feet. His only thought escape, he lunged desperately for the door only to have his flight halted by a tentacle of some sort that lashed itself about his ankle. He was lifted into the air by the surprisingly powerful appendage, hanging upside-down above a large green creature whose back was entirely obscured by the huge blossom sprouting from its spine. Tobias stared down at the crowd in shock. A few other guides chuckled.

Nurse Swallowbend was quickly joined by a pair of other frantic center nurses. Staring up at Accemenla as though she was oblivious to Tobias's existence, she commanded, "Someone call Professor Elm."


	17. Culture Shock

Author's Notes: Wow, 100 reviews. That worked out nicely. Thanks to everybody who's reviewed so far!

As for pleading insanity, PNEK MEKS, that might have worked, but the Tarsix might have been a little difficult to explain away, if you know what I mean. And yep, Yellowspottedlizard, you can't find Tarsix in Johto. Interesting, I'm wondering what you think the purpose of the shield is. I've tried not to put in too many hints about that yet.

**Chapter 17: Culture Shock**

What followed was a sudden flurry of activity that quickly sent Tobias's head, already becoming slightly woozy from the blood rushing to his brain as he hung upside-down, spinning wildly.

The two nurses that had rushed to investigate the disturbance scattered in different directions. One darted out into the crowd of guides, trying to disperse it as best she could. A few guides shrugged and slouched away, disappointed as nothing more immediately exciting seemed to be happening, but most remained despite the nurse's most vehement requests that they leave. They were staring greedily at Accemenla, the eager, determined expressions on their faces causing Tobias to glance her way nervously.

Accemenla had calmed down some, seeming resigned to her position. She was now relaxing luxuriously in the claw that was clamped around her midsection as though she was reclining in a comfortable chair. No doubt she was sending rude mental messages to the Pokemon that held her; Tobais couldn't tell, as the creature was completely encased in a bright red exoskeleton, its eyes blank and emotionless. Tobias glanced back to the crowd. Tarsix weren't really all that rare, were they? But then, if they hadn't heard of Waytar like that nurse…impossible! She must have just misheard him.

The other nurse darted away to the counter once more, presumably to get this Elm person that nurse Swallowbend had called for. The woman herself remained, now frowning up at Tobias in puzzlement. Occasionally her gaze traveled to Accemenla, before returning to Tobias.

A water droplet rolled down Tobias's arm and off of his finger, landing with a distinct plop on the tiled floor below. "Umm, could you let me down now, please?" he asked. His right arm was itching now, and he couldn't seem to muster the energy necessary to swing his left arm up to reach it. He wondered irritably what use the salve that the nurse had given him was if it wore off so quickly.

Another water droplet rolled off of his hand as nurse Swallowbend studied him carefully, trying to decide whether or not to agree to his request. As he saw the large puddle on the floor of the center, Tobias suddenly remembered that she had mentioned that the salve wasn't waterproof. Undoubtedly, his impromptu bath had rinsed most of it off.

"Are you going to try to run again?" nurse Swallowbend asked him uncertainly.

"I don't know. Are you going to try to catch me and turn me in to the police again?" Tobias responded irritably, though he immediately regretted it. Now was not the time to mouth off.

Nurse Swallowbend merely laughed at this, her gaze darting quickly back to Accemenla. "No, not this time. I think that I was a little hasty in my assumptions before. Now, whose Venusaur is this?" she asked, addressing the crowd of guides.

"Mine!" came a reply from somewhere in the sea of faces.

"Kindly ask him to put this boy down, please," nurse Swallowbed requested.

"Sure. Artus, put the kid down."

The green Pokemon below Tobias rumbled a low "Saaaurrrr…" and the guide found himself being lowered gently to the floor. His hand was touching the tiles before the strange tentacle unwound from his ankle and he tumbled the rest of the way to the ground. He had a dazed impression of a thick, muscular vine coiling back towards the green Pokemon, but he might have been imagining it.

Tobias scrambled up as quickly as he could, sliding slightly on the slippery floor. He straightened up, his head clearing. He then hurried over to where Jinx had fallen as quickly as he could.

The Murkrow was lying spread-eagled on the floor, knocked out by the alligator Pokemon's casual blow. Tobias shivered as he carefully picked Jinx up. The creature must have been massively powerful to be able to defeat the Murkrow in one hit. He was unpleasantly reminded of the Scyther that he had met outside of Rareview. Jinx stirred slightly in his guide's hands, eyes opening to pained red slits.

"You really need a good rest," Tobias told him worriedly. The Murkrow had been in a sorry enough state before all of the excitement of the escape attempt. "Go on, just take a nap for a little bit. I'll take care of everything." Jinx stared up at Tobias skeptically for a moment longer before closing his eyes once more. Keeping the small Pokemon tucked up against his chest, Tobias stared around at the scene.

The nurse that had run to get the Professor looked up from her desk, where she had retreated before clamping something up against her ear. To Tobias it appeared a fat, pale mago berry and he thought that the nurse looked quite ridiculous with it pressed to her head, but nurse Swallowbend seemed to take her quite seriously when she yelled, "Sarah, he's on the line!"

Nurse Swallowbend motioned for Tobias to follow her as she strode to accept the mago berry-thing from the other nurse. The nurse that had been deployed to break up the crowd redoubled her efforts. At first they seemed to have little effect on the crowd, now suddenly fascinated by the mago berry-thing, but a sudden shout from the back of the crowd caused heads to turn sharply.

"It's on!" came a gleeful cheer from far across the center's common area. "Come on, they're going to start interviewing the contestants!"

A veritable stampede ensued, leaving the nurse standing in the middle of an empty floor as the entire guide population of the center clustered around something in the far corner. The red lobster Pokemon turned to look after its guide, keeping its grip on Accemenla firm. The nurse sighed and looked up to it.

"Go ahead and put it down. I'm sure your trainer will want you over there to watch the League Championship Tournament with him," the slightly windswept nurse told it, and it nodded almost imperceptibly, opening its claw and dumping Accemenla unceremoniously onto the floor. It was no doubt glad to be rid of her as it stomped heavily over to join the crowd of human and Pokemon at the other side of the center.

Accemenla regained her feet and drew herself imposingly. She turned her head to face Tobias, though most of her body was still oriented in the nurse's direction, and sent him a personal mental message. _Shall we be going, then? _she asked uneasily. _I don't like this place one bit, and we've got quite the distraction._

Much to Tobias's shame, he had been thinking along these same lines, despite his promise to nurse Swallowbend. The nurse in question, however, turned to wave Tobias over. He shook his head slightly at Accemenla, who scowled and turned back to the other nurse, before reluctantly trotting up to the desk. Nurse Swallowbend was now animatedly speaking into the strange device. She seemed to be conversing with it somehow, though Tobias could hear only half of what was being said.

"Yes, yes, Professor, I've got him here with me right now," she glanced over at Tobias to make sure that he hadn't bolted. "I don't really remember, now that you mention it…hang on, I'll ask him."

Nurse Swallowbend removed the mago berry-thing from her ear, covered one end of it with her free hand, and addressed Tobias. "Where did you say you were from again?" she asked Tobias.

"Err, Waytar," Tobias replied, staring with interest at the device clutched in the nurse's hands. Nurse Swallowbend nodded and returned it to her ear, removing her hand from its lower end.

"It's Waytar, Professor, Waytar. No, I don't believe that I have either. You…wait, what?" She frowned and bit her lip, standing in silence for a few seconds as though listening to someone else talking. "Well, I suppose if you can't…yes, I'll be sure to. Uh-huh. Uh-huh." More silence. "No, don't worry about it. I'll have Ralph take him…you know Ralph? Right, right, he's in town at the moment. Staying here at the center for a few nights, actually. He'll be glad to see you again, I'm sure. All right. Nice to speak with you again, Professor."

Nurse Swallowbend removed the device from her ear and lay it back down in its housing on the counter. She turned to look down at Tobias, frowning pensively. Her frown deepened as Accemenla trotted over to stand next to her guide. "I apologize for misunderstanding you earlier," she told Tobias earnestly. "You see, just because I had never heard of Waytar before…"

"But you must have heard of Waytar!" Tobias interjected. "You live there after all, don't you?"

"Not that I'm aware," nurse Swallowbend replied grimly. "In any case, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Goodness knows that this is a time of many new discoveries. I'm sure that you're confused by all this."

Tobias nodded earnestly and nurse Swallowbend gave a thin-lipped smile. "Well, I've just been speaking with Professor Elm, one of the leading Pokemon experts in these parts, and he's very excited to speak with you. We've never had anyone from Waytar here before, you see," she ignored Tobias as he shook his head at this statement, "and he'd be happy to tell you all about our region and help you in any way that he can. He's really quite busy right now, however, and can't leave his laboratory. I'm going to have my younger brother Ralph take you to his lab as soon as possible. Is that all right?"

"Sure," Tobias agreed, not having any real alternative.

"Good," nurse Swallowbend said. "Now, hang on a minute while I explain the situation to Ralph. This will just be a moment." She stalked off towards the large crowd at the other end of the center. Tobias thought she seemed rather angry and hoped that it wasn't at him again. He watched after her with interest as she disappeared amongst the crowd.

Soon, however, a petulant wail broke above the general buzz of chatter emanating from the corner. "But Sar-ah! I can't leave now! The League Championship is on!"

Nurse Swallowbend reappeared, forcibly directing a boy only a couple of years older than Tobias. He struggled angrily in her firm grasp, trying to claw his way back into the crowd. Nurse Swallowbend seemed practiced at dragging people to and from places, however, and the pair soon reached Tobias and Accemenla.

"Ralph, this is Tobias," she said, indicating Tobias with a nod, as her hands were occupied with preventing her brother from escaping. "Tobias, Ralph. Now, Ralph, remember that Professor Elm is waiting for Tobias," she glared meaningfully down at the squirming boy, "and he expects him to be there soon. I've got to get back to work, so I'll leave you two to it." Releasing her brother, she gave Tobias a curt nod and stalked back off to the counter.

Ralph ruefully rubbed his arm and stared at Tobias curiously from beneath a mop of unkempt brown hair. Though slightly stockier than his sister, his face also had a more open, affable look than his stern older sibling. Tobias returned his gaze with equal interest, taking in the boy's faded shirt and well-worn pants so obscured by grass stains and ground-in mud that it was nearly impossible to tell that they had once been gray. Clearly, Ralph was the adventurous type. Like every other guide in this strange place, his belt sported four red-and-white spheres and a strange box-like object.

Ralph's gaze moved on to Accemenla, who was peering up at him intently. "That's a funky-looking Pokemon," he commented. "Where'd you get it?"

_I am not an 'it,' _Accemenla remarked in annoyance.

"Whoah, it's a psy-type, huh?" Ralph whistled appreciatively. "I've always wanted one of those, but I haven't been able to catch one yet."

"I caught Accemenla in Dakrill Forest," Tobias told Ralph.

"Dakrill Forest? Never heard of it," Ralph replied with a shrug. "Is it true, then? My sis says you're from some new region or something."

"I think that it's just your sister that's confused," Tobias replied stubbornly, refusing to give in to the weight of evidence that pressed down upon him.

Ralph shrugged again and reached for the square device on his belt. Unclipping it deftly, he oriented it in front of itself and pressed a button on its front.

To Tobias's shock and horror, a voice emanated from the small machine. He fell back a few places, eyes wide. The machine was possessed! Something had become trapped within it, and yet Ralph didn't seem to be perturbed at all.

In fact, Ralph merely shot a quizzical glance at the retreating Tobias as he aimed the device at Accemenla. The Tarsix was unafraid, regarding the metal object coolly as it spoke once more. Tobias crept forward again, his curiosity overcoming fear as he strained to hear what the machine was saying.

"Target is not a recognized species," the machine hummed in a flat, inhuman voice. "Cross-referencing energy signature with sightings database…please wait…"

Ralph and Tobias did so, the older boy with a faint look of boredom and the younger guide with bated breath. The device uttered a small buzz before continuing. "No matches found. New sighting recorded. Analyzing energy signature…please wait…"

"Wow, a new Pokemon!" Ralph crowed excitedly. "I can't believe I'm the first person who thought to scan this thing with their Pokedex!"

_Need I remind you that I am not a 'thing?' _Accemenla asked irritably, but Ralph ignored her.

"So you really must be from somewhere else. What's it like there? How did you get here?"

"I just told you," Tobias began angrily, but the Pokedex interjected and cut the conversation off abruptly.

"Analysis complete. Target is classified as being psychic-type, two feet, three inches in height, twenty-nine pounds in weight. Attacks recognized: leer, scratch, and confusion."

Ralph pressed another button on the Pokedex's face and cheerily returned it to its place at his belt. Tobias hastily changed the subject before Ralph could remember what he had been talking about. "What is that thing?" he asked in genuine curiosity. "And how does it…talk?"

"What, you've never seen a Pokedex before?" Ralph scoffed. Tobias shook his head slowly. "Wow," Ralph whistled. "Never thought I'd hear of somewhere that they didn't have Pokedexes. I mean, I always thought they were the classic trainer 'thing.' But whatever," he added quickly as he saw Tobias's puzzled expression. "The Pokedex is sorta like a Pokemon encyclopedia. It's got all of the information on all of the known Pokemon and regions, and it gets updated constantly. Just now, information on your Pokemon went into the international database that's been established to service Pokedexes. Now anyone with a Pokedex can access it. As for how it talks, that's just an electronic thing. Pokedexes can be programmed to have different voices, you know."

No, Tobias didn't really know. He didn't understand half of what Ralph had just said at all, but at least he had put off any uncomfortable questions about his place of origin for the moment. Tobias just didn't feel ready to think about that quite yet, still stubbornly believing that he must be somewhere in Waytar, even if it was an obscure, odd little corner of it.

Ralph eyed Tobias once more, focusing on the dozing Murkrow that he held tight to his chest. "Wow, sweet, you've got a Murkrow?" he asked. "That's cool. I mean, sure, some people think they're bad luck and all, but that's just superstition. Say, he looks pretty bad. Don't you want to get him healed up before we leave?" Ralph grinned at Tobias eagerly as he uttered the last question, clearly hoping that Tobias would agree.

Tobias, however, was reliving the scene that he had witnessed in the back of the Pokemon center. He shivered involuntarily and clutched Jinx all the tighter. "No, I…I don't think so. He's just tired, needs a little rest. I'll hold onto him."

Ralph's face fell. "Well, if you're sure…" he agreed reluctantly. Then, with a quick glance at the nurse's counter, now manned by different nurse than before, leaned in close to Tobias and hissed, "The truth is, I kinda want to stay around here for a couple more minutes. The League Championship is starting, and I don't want to miss the preliminaries. I'm sure Professor Elm won't mind; you could watch with me, it'll only be a few minutes."

Tobias agreed reluctantly, though he truthfully felt a little excited at the prospect of seeing just what this "League Championship" was. The strange wonders of this place amazed him and, despite his unease, he was beginning to feel a slight sense of adventure as he explored them. Ralph thanked him gratefully and then ushered Tobias and Accemenla towards the large group of guides towards the other end of the center.

Ralph and Tobias jostled their way through the crowd, which was so tightly-knit that Accemenla had to jump up to cling onto Tobias's pack lest she be crushed between the oblivious guides. They ignored her, instead craning necks and standing on tiptoe as they tried to catch a glimpse of something in the center of the cluster. At last Ralph pushed aside a guide and Tobias, following him, was able to see the source of the fuss between the shoulders of guides in front of him. He stopped and stared at it in amazement.

It appeared to be a device similar to the one that had graced the wall in Tobias's room, only it was lit up from within, a brilliant picture glowing at its center. It put Tobias in mind of the windows he had seen on the machines lined up near the huge map. What the pictures depicted floored him, however.

A tall girl with flowing black hair was standing near the center of the image, next to a man dressed smartly in a suit and tie. He was holding some sort of strange stick out to her, and she smiled at Tobias. As he watched, the image _moved_ and the man spoke. His voice drifted out of the box just as the Pokedex's had earlier, his mouth moving as it formed the words. "And I'm here now with Katherine, and as you can see, she and her Electabuzz are ready for the tournament." A yellow, humanoid creature standing next to the girl growled something appreciative at this, and the girl, Katherine, looked down at it with a smile.

Tobias was terrified. Somehow these people had managed to trap humans and Pokemon inside of that box! If this was what people in this region did for entertainment, then Tobias for one wouldn't like to be a part of it. What sort of people would capture people and seal them away like that? It was barbaric!

Tobias tried to back away as he had been doing frequently since his arrival in this strange land. He found his path blocked by a boy behind him, who barely noticed as Tobias bumped against him, watching and listening intently to the exploits of the people trapped in the brightly-lit box. The words that emanated from it passed through Tobias's ears without leaving any real impression. Desperate, Tobias began to shove his way wildly through the crowd, earning indignant cries from the people he pushed forcibly out of the way.

At last he made it to the end of the press of people and stumbled out into the clear space beyond the ring of transfixed guides. He sighed with relief, shooting an apprehensive glance over his shoulder. None of the guides had been distressed enough by his actions to follow him out, merely returning their attention to the strange box.

Accemenla leaped lightly off of his pack and landed on the floor next to him. Tobias looked down at her. "Did you see that thing that they were all watching?" he asked.

_Yes, _she replied thoughtfully. _It certainly was strange, wasn't it? They seemed almost to be entranced by it._

"How could they trap people inside of an object like that, though?" Tobias wondered aloud. "And who would do such a thing?"

_Those people on the screen weren't really inside of it, _Accemenla mused.

"They weren't?" Tobias asked, confused.

No. I tried to feel their thoughts, but there was nothing there. They must be some sort of moving illustration. You know, like in a book.

"They looked really real to me," Tobias responded doubtfully. Accemenla merely shrugged, losing interest.

"Hey!" came a cry from behind them. Ralph was now pushing his way through the crowd, which had begun to hum with activity suddenly, as though all of the guides had been released from the spell that bound them to the strange box simultaneously. Panting, Ralph broke free of the crowd and trotted over to Tobias. "What's with you?" he asked, grimacing and rubbing his side, where he had been struck forcefully by the hand of a guide who had been making an enthusiastic gesture and not realized that Ralph had been standing right beside him. "I mean, why'd you flip out when you saw the TV?"

"So that's what you call it," Tobias muttered to himself. What could that mean? Tee-vee…

Ralph, who had heard the boy's statement, gaped at him. "You've never heard of TV? You've never _watched _TV?" Tobias shook his head. "Man, I was thinking maybe it would be cool to visit wherever it is that you're from, but now I know to avoid it at all costs. No TV? I think I'd die!"

"Look, what is that thing, anyway?" Tobias asked. "Those looked like real people in there."

"Well, yeah, they're real people," Ralph acknowledged. Tobias gave him a look of stunned horror, and he continued quickly. "But they're not really 'in' there. They're actually standing outside of the Indigo Plateau stadium, waiting for the League Championship to begin."

"That's not around here, is it?" Tobias asked.

"No," chuckled Ralph. "It's very far from here, up in the mountains."

"But we can still see them," Tobias said, looking pleadingly at Ralph. He was lost.

"Well, umm, I guess it's sorta like a fancy window," Ralph explained. "Only it lets us see something far away instead of right outside. And hear what's happening there, too. I would explain how it actually works, but I don't really know."

"It's so odd," Tobias said, looking over Ralph's shoulder at the crowd, which was now milling and humming with excitement. "A minute ago, they were all staring at the…TV…as though nothing else in the world mattered. But now they're ignoring it."

"Yeah, well, that's why I came over to get you," Ralph told him. "Commercial break, you know. Nothing interesting to watch. I guess the reason we were so glued to it before was because the League Championships is a very special event. All of us trainers hope to become good enough to get into it one day, you see. It only happens once a year, and we all get really worked up over it. It hasn't actually started yet, they're just introducing the competitors."

Tobias thought that he could understand this. When a guide qualified to become a master guide, they were required to participate in an annual battle tournament to determine their place amongst their peers. He guessed that this "League" was something like the Guides' Council. Though he wasn't willing to admit it, even to himself, he was beginning to think of this place as somewhere separate from Waytar entirely, despite the fact that the idea contradicted with everything he had been taught.

Ralph sighed resignedly. "I guess we may as well get going," he admitted. "After all, if I stay too long to watch the preliminary stuff, I'm going to miss out on all the actual battles when my sis finds out and forces me to drag you over to Elm's. Come on, it won't be long."

He started towards the doors of the center, obviously eager to be on his way quickly so that he might return as soon as possible. Tobias nearly had to jog to catch up with him, Accemenla bounding easily along beside him. "Hey, wait!" Tobias called. "How are we going to get to…wherever it is we're going?"

"We'll fly!" Ralph called back, slowing almost imperceptibly. "I just got my certification a couple of weeks ago, actually." He had reached the center doors. Tobias was surprised to see that he made no effort to slow down as he approached them, nor did he put out a hand to open them. To his shock, the doors slid back of their own accord, making way for the speeding guide…or "trainer," as he called himself.

Tobias didn't have time to stop and wonder at how the doors worked, however; he shot through them and out into the strange world beyond. Almost at once, however, he skidded to a halt, bringing his arm up to shade his eyes. He stared up at the glaringly blue sky above him in wonder; beside him, Accemenla gave a small moan.


	18. More Rumors

Author's Notes: Ooh, lots of good reviews. Thanks, everyone!

The whole Nurse Joy thing is something I explained in my first fanfic, but I probably should have thought to stick it in here as well. I think that the idea of a bunch of virtually identical sisters single-handedly running every Pokemon center in almost every region is a little hard to believe and also somewhat creepy. There is one Nurse Joy in my fics, though I don't know that she'll actually ever be mentioned or have a role in any of them, but she's sorta like the "head nurse" or whatever that oversees the operations of all the centers, as opposed to being personally involved in the operation of every one.

Tobias will be out of Waytar for a few more chapters, Dr. Thinker. I'm not exactly sure how many.

But did it ever occur to you that maybe Tobias doesn't want to go back? After all, Waytar is seemingly full of prejudice and people who want to kill him. And Johto has TV…

There's a long flashback in this chapter, and I'm not quite sure if I did it right…I was at first going to put it all in italics, but that would have been sort of eye-hurty, in my opinion. Was the way that I ended up doing it all right?

**Chapter 18: More Rumors**

"What's that light?" Tobias asked in awe, staring cautiously up towards the heavens. He'd never seen a sky so pristinely blue, nor shining with such a vengeful radiance as it did here in this strange place, "Johto." Apparently Accmenla hadn't either, and was less than pleased by its existence. She returned to her chime, dissolving into a formless mist that drifted back up into the instrument.

"That's the sun," Ralph told Tobias, speaking slowly as if to a small child. "You know, that big, bright thing that hangs around up in the--whoah!" He stared at Accemenla's retreating form as it returned she returned to her chime at Tobias's belt. "You keep your Pokemon in chimes like that?" he asked.

"Yes," Tobias replied, puzzled. "Of course. And that's the _sun_? Doesn't it seem a bit…unusually bright to you at all?"

Ralph turned to look up at the sky as well, and Tobias noted that even he, a native of the land, was reluctant to look straight into the angry sun. "Naw, seems fine to me. It's a beautiful day, actually. You mean that you've never seen the sun like this before? Is it always cloudy where you live, or what?"

"No," Tobias replied. "It's sunny there, too. Just not this sunny."

"Well, I suppose that explains the sunburn. You probably ought to slather on some sunscreen, then. I doubt you're much suited to standing around in sun like this."

Tobias could believe that a sun such as this could actually burn. He slid his pack off of his shoulder and rooted in it with one arm, the other still holding Jinx tightly. He came up at last with the two tubes that nurse Swallowbend had given him. He reapplied the healing salve first, smiling at it soothed his once again itching burns. He then applied the sunscreen with so much exuberance that Ralph claimed that he appeared to be a "walking snowman."

"Rub it in more," Ralph advised as he supervised Tobias's applications of the creams. "Spread it around, that's right. I just hope those two creams mix well. Otherwise you could end up with an even nastier skin problem."

Tobias hoped this as well, though he thought that nurse Swallowbend wouldn't have given him both creams if he wasn't meant to use them both at once. When Ralph at least approved of Tobias's appearance, he reached for one of the orbs that he kept clipped to his belt.

"I thought you were a musician or something when I saw those chimes," Ralph informed Tobias as he unclipped the second sphere and, pressing a button on its front, caused it to suddenly double in size. "People around here keep their Pokemon in Pokeballs like this. Go, Glider!"

He threw the ball to the ground. It bounced once and opened as it sailed into the air again, cracking along its equator to disgorge a starburst of white light. The brilliant light coalesced into the form of a large, fearsome bird as the ball miraculously reversed direction and returned to Ralph's hand. He pressed the front button again, causing it to shrink once more, and returned it to the belt.

The large bird that had appeared from within the ball was one with which Tobias was familiar; he had often seen Pokemon like it soaring effortlessly far above the fields. His father had always welcomed the presence of Spearow, as they kept the bugs down, unlike the far more common Pidgey that ate his seed. This was a Fearow, the evolved form of Spearow. She shook her great wings restlessly and peered over at Tobias with little interest, clacking her long, crooked beak.

"Ready for a trip, Glider?" Ralph asked his Pokemon. Glider nodded her head, and Ralph motioned for Tobias to step up beside him. "This is Tobias, who'll be riding with me. Think you can carry both of us all the way to New Bark Town?"

"Feearr!" Glider shrieked, insulted that her trainer would even ask such a ridiculous question.

"Good. Come on, let's get going."

Glider allowed her human passengers to board, spreading her broad wings and propelling herself into the air with an almighty surge. Once airborne, Glider flapped leisurely, the city of Cianwood falling away beneath her. Tobias peered anxiously down at it, still desperately searching for some familiar landmark, though he was beginning to lose hope. No familiar feature presented itself; indeed, the land mirrored the map he had seen in the Pokemon Center to an almost frightening degree. Here was a continent so thoroughly explored and tamed that it could be described accurately down to the square foot, whereas large areas of Waytar were treacherous and uncharted.

Glider wheeled about and began to drift eastward, the land unfolding below Tobias in a seamless quilt. The air this far above ground was perfectly silent, the only noise the slight rushing in Tobias's ears caused by the gentle wind of Glider's flight and the occasional wingbeat. He spent several minutes simply admiring the land as it unfolded beneath him. Four craggy islands protruded from the ocean just below, the water surrounding them foaming and swirling in dozens of whirlpools. Beyond another city unfolded, one grander than any Tobias had ever seen, with row upon row of clustered buildings, a few so tall that they almost seemed to reach up into the sky itself. A bustling port existed at the city's edge, and enormous boats, which appeared to be propelled by something other than wind, as they bore no sails, sliced through the ocean waves or sat idle at a dock.

The Fearow's flight dragged on. The Pokemon's massive wings, though they allowed her to soar almost indefinitely, even with the two humans weighing her down, were not built for speed. Though covering ground much faster than they would have been able to on foot, the two boys were traveling at a pace most flying-types would deem "leisurely" at best. Tobias remembered another of his father's tales, one that spoke of a Fearow who had taken to flight as soon as he had evolved and not once touched the earth again until he fell, dead, from the sky. Tobias didn't really believe this any more than he believed most of his father's fireside stories, but Glider's capacity for flight seemed inexhaustible.

At last, even the gorgeous scenery below lost its appeal and Tobias grew bored. Ralph had been quiet throughout the flight, engrossed in a book that he had pulled from his pack early on in the flight. A glance at the cover identified it as _Vennu's Adventures, Book Seven: The Lost Lake of Lapras. _An illustration of a Pokemon with which Tobias was unfamiliar, some sort of bird with two heads, standing next to the famed transport Pokemon Lapras graced the volume's front.

Though reluctant to disturb the obviously riveted Ralph (who had just reached the gripping scene where the daring Vennu once again foils Team Rocket's plan and saves the Lapras), Tobias was desperate for something to do now that he could no longer amuse himself by reading from his guidebook. "So, tell me a little about Johto," he implored.

"Huh?" Ralph asked, not having heard Tobias's question as he eagerly read how Vennu cleverly destroyed Team Rocket's rampaging Lapras-capture machine.

"I said, what's it like here in Johto?" Tobias repeated.

Ralph sighed and, folding down the corner of the page he was reading, closed the book. "It's pretty exciting, actually. Lost of stuff's been going on lately."

"What's been going on?" Tobias prompted.

"Well," Ralph replied, thinking hard. "Legendary sightings have been on the rise for the past couple of years now. People in all the regions have been seeing them more frequently, and there's even been a few new ones discovered. My cousin swears he saw Rayquaza last summer," Ralph added proudly. "I don't really believe him, though. After all, he was the one who told me that Clefairy came from the moon, and everybody knows that isn't true." He peeked over his shoulder to see if Tobias had been sufficiently awed by the knowledge that one of his family members might actually have been blessed with the privilege of seeing a legendary creature, and blinked. "What's your problem now?" he asked irritably.

When Ralph mentioned legendaries Tobias had jerked backwards in fear and surprise, fortunately remembering at the last moment that he was sitting on the back of a Pokemon drifting hundreds of feet above the earth and stopped himself from tumbling off of Glider backwards. He was now clutching at the Fearow's feathers desperately, white as a Dewgong. "Did you say people have been seeing legendary Pokemon a lot lately?" he asked weakly.

"Yeah. Lots of 'em. Say, if you want to try out training around here for a bit and get lucky you might even see one!" Ralph's face lit up as he said this, clearly wishing that he would be able to come into contact with one of the powerful Pokemon himself.

"And that's a good thing?" Tobias pressed.

"Yeah. Well, not always. Legendaries aren't too nice when they're angry," Ralph admitted. "But come on, who wouldn't want to see one? I've even heard of a couple people who've caught one!"

Tobias shuddered. How could the people here possibly grow to love the legendary beasts so much? These were, after all, the creatures that had long ago slaughtered millions of humans and Pokemon alike in the bloody legendary wars. He though hard, trying to recall anything he had heard about the wars that might explain this odd phenomenon. A scene from one of his history lessons in school floated to the top of his brain.

Tobias's teacher, Ms. Wikiriver, stood imposingly behind her large desk. She glared out at the sea of students seated quietly before her, trying to appear as though they were listening intently. Ms. Wikiriver smacked her long pointer stick against the blackboard, startling several dozing children awake, and bellowed. "The legendary wars, class! Who can tell me anything about them?"

Caroline Magmaclaw raised her hand with a large, satisfied smile spread across her chubby face. Tobias and most of the class loathed her, the teacher's pet who knew the answer to every question. Ms. Wikiriver smiled at Caroline and nodded for her to speak.

"The legendary wars lasted for over three hundred years," Caroline recited dutifully. "They began with the coming of the legendary Pokemon, who sought to destroy humankind. The humans rebelled, and soon the entire world was embroiled in chaos." Caroline smirked as she uttered the word "embroiled," clearly pleased with her obnoxiously large vocabulary.

"Very good Caroline," Ms. Wikiriver gushed. "Now, can someone else tell us how Mayan Waytar was important in the legendary wars?"

It took several seconds of silence, in which Ms. Wikiriver's intense eyes bored into the crowd, before a boy tentatively raised his hand. "Simon?" Ms. Wikiriver asked, clearly surprised.

"Mayan Waytar was important because he was the best general of them all," Simon replied quietly. "He led the largest force of humans and Pokemon against the enemy."

"Excellent, Simon," Ms. Wikiriver said with a smile. "And who was Waytar's greatest enemy, class?"

Tobias thought he knew this one and raised his hand. "The legendary Pokemon," he responded after Ms. Wikiriver called on him.

"No, no, no," Ms. Wikiriver chided. "Who knows the right answer…only Caroline? Well, go ahead then, dear."

"His greatest enemy was the groups of traitors that had gone over to the side of the legendaries," Caroline replied dutifully, throwing a condescending smile at Tobias. "They had given in to the legendary Pokemon's power and even went so far as to oppose those others who did not do likewise."

"That's right," Ms. Wikiriver confirmed. "Yes, class, it was a dark time indeed. The legendary creatures' power had worked a terrible spell upon many humans, and soon there sprang up entire cities of people who worshipped the terrible creatures."

Scowling at Caroline behind her back, Tobias slumped down further in his seat. The warm breeze of early spring danced around the dusty classroom, teasing the captive students as it reminded them of the warm, bright day beyond the school's subdued confines. Tobias stifled and settled himself more comfortably in his seat. Early-afternoon history classes such as this one were excellent times for undisturbed napping…

And here, the memory trailed off into oblivion once more.

The thought of the look of yearning and awe that had graced Ralph's face as he spoke about the legendary Pokemon sickened Tobias. It must be that the people in this Johto were the descendants of the traitors who had groveled before the legendaries and somehow survived the war. Tobias sincerely hoped that he would never meet one of the legendary beasts; surely it would be able to recognize that he was no spineless coward who submitted cheerfully to its will and annihilate him on the spot. Feeling immensely superior and disgusted, Tobias tried to get off of the subject, saying, "So, what else's been happening?"

"Well, there was something really big going down last year. Some new kind of Pokemon supposedly arrived from outer space. There were loads of sightings and this whole sort of movement to catch it. Trainers were coming from all over the world to look for the thing, but it suddenly disappeared and after a couple months people just dismissed it as a hoax and went back to whatever they were doing. Then suddenly this spring there were these huge fires all across Hoenn, and nobody knew what was causing them. Some people supposedly claimed that they had seen the new Pokemon again and that it was starting all of the fires, but it was all hushed up pretty well."

"Huh," Tobias muttered. He didn't know anything about Hoenn or Pokemon from outer space or anything like that, but it did sound rather odd.

"And that's not all," Ralph continued, warming to the subject. "Pokemon everywhere have been acting a little bit strange lately. Clefairy and Ledyba are becoming incredibly common all of a sudden, and reports of Clefable and Ledian have increased too. Then some Pokemon are suddenly vanishing, like Vulpix and Gastly. No one knows why. The number of trainer fatalities has been on the rise, too, and people are starting to worry. And now there's you," he added, turning to look at Tobias once more. "You'll be the next big thing. Imagine, another new region! And new Pokemon!"

Tobias thought on this as Glider continued her flight. Nothing strange had been happening in Waytar lately, at least so far as he knew. Perhaps it was because of the protection of the shield, which had in ancient times spared its inhabitants of the terrible fates of the rest of humankind--or so he had been taught.

At long last Glider began her descent, spiraling down to a small town at the edge of the mountain range splitting the vast continent in two. She landed lightly before a large building set a little away from the rest of the town. Tobias and Ralph slid from her back, stretching cramped muscles and massaging limbs that had fallen asleep. Ralph recalled Glider and Tobias watched with interest as the bird was encircled by a beam of red light and drawn back into the confinement of her Pokeball.

Ralph trotted up the neat gravel path that snaked across the hillside to the building's front door, and Tobias followed hastily. He was beginning to realize the helplessness of his position; Ralph was his only connection in this strange world, and Tobias felt a sudden urge to not be left behind. Ralph approached the cheery red door and reached for the knocker mounted on it, and unusual piece done to mimic a Pidgeot with its wings outstretched before it as though giving a mighty beat. Ralph grabbed the wings where they met and rapped twice on the door. He was about to knock again when the door was pulled open to reveal a thin man wearing an enormous pair of glasses.

Tobias's first impression of Professor Elm was a tall, animated man swathed in a long white coat. The Professor's eyes were magnified by his vast round glasses, causing them to seem perpetually wide with excitement. "Ralph!" Professor Elm exclaimed. "Do come in, I've been waiting for you." The Professor eagerly peered around Ralph to Tobias. "Ah, and this must be Thomas! Welcome, welcome. Come in now, don't be shy."

The two boys were ushered into the large building by the Professor, who talked all the while, practically bursting with excitement.

"I must say, Thomas, I've never seen anyone with skin quite that shade…oh, that's right the sunburn. Sarah mentioned that. So terribly sorry, it looks dreadful. Just down that passage, there's a chap. Now, Thomas, I'm simply itching to meet this mystery Pokemon of yours. And Sarah says you keep it in one of those chimes. Yes? How marvelous! In there, go on."

Ralph and Tobias, unable to edge a scant word into the Professor's monologue, were rushed along the winding, labyrinthine halls of Professor Elm's lab at an astounding pace. Tobias lost all sense of direction as he was shoved through yet another nearly-identical hallway. At last, they reached a slightly open door. Voices drifted out from the room beyond, and the Professor urged them in.

Tobias was surprised to find an almost normal room beyond. After all of the winding corridors and door upon door, he had expected to find a stark, barren room, but was presented instead with several comfortable couches clustered around a center table, walls covered by large paintings of Pokemon, and numerous floor lamps, which cast a cheerful yellow glow, welcomingly familiar after the strange light strips which had illuminated the passage outside.

Two men were already seated upon the couches around the table, chatting good-naturedly, cups of tea held cradled in their hands. They looked up as the boys entered the room, followed by the gangly Professor Elm.

"Ah, speak of the devil," chortled the man on the left. Stocky and well-muscled, his face nevertheless sported a friendly smile as he surveyed the trio. His dark brown eyes twinkled at Tobias, noting his bewilderment and surprise. "I hope Elm here hasn't talked your ears off. He's been known to do that when he gets excited like this." The man took a sip of his tea, the teacup nearly disappearing between his large, calloused hands.

Professor Elm's thin face flushed slightly, but he chuckled gamely and introduced the man. "This is Professor Birch from Hoenn, boys. And that," he indicated the man on the right, who had been watching the scene before him with an amused smile, "is Professor Oak. Professors, these are Thomas and Ralph"

Ralph was so awed that he seemed frozen in place, mouth slightly agape. Thomas, not knowing these men by their reputations, merely nodded politely. Professor Oak, seated to the right, set his teacup down on the table before him. His gray hair testified to the fact that he was the oldest of the three Professors, and he wore an air of serene wisdom almost as tangible as his worn, graying lab coat. He seemed to balance the two other Professors, the gruff and blustery Birch in his casual hiking shorts and t-shirt with a lab coat thrown over it almost as an afterthought and the nervous, twiglike Elm swathed in his brilliantly white starched attire. Professor Oak smiled welcomingly to the two boys. "Please, be seated. I'm sure that you've traveled a great distance to come here and would enjoy a rest."

Ralph made a beeline for the couch next to Professor Oak. He sank down next to the famous researcher, basking in the glow of greatness. Tobias scooted over to sit next to Professor Birch, a relative newcomer in the field, and Professor Elm took a seat in the unoccupied couch at the head of the small table.

"Where's that food?" grumbled Professor Birch. "You two aren't the only ones who've been on the road all day," he told Thomas. "It's no mean feat, traveling here all the way from Hoenn on such short notice."

"I'm sure that Jacob will be in with the sandwiches soon," Elm replied stiffly. "You only sent him to the kitchen five minutes or so ago."

"You're always thinking with your stomach, Birch," Professor Oak said with a smile. "Perhaps we ought to get down to business in the time before our food arrives."

"Ah, sure," Professor Birch replied. He turned to look down at Tobias, who was seated next to him. "So, you're from some new region, are you? Funny, I've never seen anyone quite that color before."

"I have a sunburn," Tobias explained with a sigh. He was beginning to tire of people pointing this out.

"I know, I know, I was just joking. Lighten up a bit," Professor Birch chortled. "So, this…Waytar, was it? Where is it in relation to Johto?"

"I don't know," Tobias said truthfully. "I woke up in the Pokemon Center without any clue of where I was. The nurse said that I'd been dumped on the beach by a Gyrados. That's as much as anybody knows."

"Ah, that's a pity," Professor Elm sighed. "Do you know anything that you think might tell us more about its geography or size? What we're wonder is if it's just a currently known landmass that simply has yet to be explored."

"Well, I have my guidebook. It talks all about Waytar, and it has a map in the front," Tobias began. Professor Elm leaned forward in anticipation and even Professor Oak seemed excited by this statement. "I'm afraid it's sort of ruined. It got wet, you know," Tobias continued. Professor Elm appeared crestfallen, sinking back onto his couch, but Professor Oak merely nodded thoughtfully.

"May I see it anyway?" he asked. Tobias nodded and reached back into his pack for the guidebook. His fingers fell upon the familiar binding and he drew it out, placing it on the table at the center of the gathering. The three Professors converged upon it. Proessor Oak carefully pried the cover open, delicately teasing each page free and turning them with utmost care. Tobias felt ashamed by his clumsy effort to unstick the pages earlier; in many cases he'd only ruined them further, but the Professors had apparently had long experience in dealing with such damaged texts.

Professor Oak at last reached the map. Unfolding it carefully, he and the other two Professors studied it intently. "It doesn't match anything that I've seen before," mused Professor Elm.

"Looks too large to be one of the western islands. It's even got its own island system here, see," Professor Birch said, indicating the islands to the south of the main continent.

Professor Oak traced his fingers across the partially obscured names and places. Even his best efforts could not save much of the already damaged map, but the general outlines of landmasses and geographical features were still relatively easy to discern. "What are these, here?" he asked Tobias suddenly, his finger moving out to the edge of the map. "These little islands all in a ring around the area?"

Tobias was reluctant to tell the Professor about the World's Teeth. He had a feeling that the mythology associated with them would naturally lead to questions about the shield, which would lead to questions about why he had apparently been able to travel through it, questions which he himself could not answer. Much to his relief, the conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the food.

An older boy entered the room, carrying a large platter heaped with sandwiches of every variety. He approached the gathering at the center of the room with the food. He wore a lab coat like the Professors themselves, indicating that he was an aide of some sort. He must have been seventeen or eighteen, dark hair falling in an untidy jumble across his head. He had a gaunt, wasted look about him as though he had lost a great deal of weight in a short period of time and dark smudges haunted the space beneath his piercing eyes.

Still, the boy crossed the room at a brisk enough pace. He set the plate down on the table, the Professors having withdrawn at the sight of the food, and turned his gaze upon Tobias. Professor Birch saw fit to introduce him to the young guide. "Thomas, this is Jacob, my head research aide. Jacob, this is Thomas, the boy from the new region."

Jacob studied Tobias closely, his eyes making the younger boy uncomfortable as they swept across him intently. They fastened on Jinx, resting quietly in Tobias's grasp. "You had a Pokemon," he said suddenly, voice sharp and commanding, "one that people here hadn't seen before."

"Jacob, I don't think…" Professor Birch began, and Tobias was startled to hear a note of apprehension, even fear in the man's voice. Jacob ignored him as Tobias nodded slowly, unsure. He assumed the boy meant Accemenla.

"Let me see it," Jacob implored, eyes narrowing. Tobias shot a worried glance around to the Professors. Professor Birch cleared his throat, preparing to speak again, but seemed reluctant to actually do so. Tobias, extremely mistrustful of the strange young man, shook his head firmly.

Anger flashed in the older boy's eyes. Before anyone could stop him, he lunged forward, seizing Tobias by the front of his shirt and jerking his head forward until it was mere inches away from his face. Jinx was awoken by the forceful jerk and the sudden removal of Tobias's hand from around his body as he reflexively reached up to try to shove Jacob's hand aside.

The boy's arm exerted a surprisingly firm grip for all of its gauntness, and Tobias was unable to pull himself away. He stared in terror into the boy's eyes, which burned with a frightening fervor and something…else. They seemed illuminated by a deadly inner light that bored into Tobias's soul. "You will show me the Pokemon," Jacob commanded. "Now."


	19. Nighttime Phantoms

Author's Notes: Thanks for all of the reviews! Lots of speculation about Jacob, isn't there. I'm afraid that none of you have quite hit the nail on the head with your theories, but a couple of you are pretty close…

All right, WindieDragon, I'll send you information on Sesstra and Spirfargio so you can satisfy your need to draw.

I would pronounce Tobias as Toe-bi-ass, Midnight-Phoenix, but I don't really care, you can say it however you please.

**Chapter 19: Nighttime Phantoms**

"Jacob!" Professor Elm cried, shocked. Professor Birch reached over and grabbed the boy's shoulder warningly, apparently ready to forcibly restrain him if necessary.

Jacob glared at Tobias for a second longer before scornfully letting go of his shirt front. Tobias fell back onto the chouch and huddled there, terrified. Jacob looked down at him for a moment longer, haughty expression defying the lines of pain that creased his face prematurely. He turned away and growled, "Never mind. I already have my answer."

He made to leave the room. "Just wait a minute, Jacob," Professor Birch barked. Jacob shot him a cool glance but continued to walk, ignoring his employer. "Get back here, young man!" Professor Birch bellowed irately, half-rising as Jacob disappeared through the door to the hall. No response came, and he subsided back into his seat, sputtering indignantly.

"You must excuse Jacob," Professor Oak said gravely to Tobias. "I'm sure that he didn't mean to scare you. He's not been well lately."

"Yes, he's been under a lot of stress," Professor Elm added. "Please forgive him."

Tobias was rattled. Jinx seemed fairly unperturbed, however. Feeling enormously better after his long rest, he had hopped up to the arm of the couch and was peering out the now half-ajar door to the hall intently. Professor Birch was clearly trying to get a rein on his temper, breathing heavily glaring fiercely at the innocent sandwich plate. Tobias pondered for a moment how Jacob could possibly afford to anger his boss in such a manner.

"Well, while we're on the subject I suppose we might as well follow it through," Professor Birch sighed at last. "Would you mind letting your Pokemon out for us to see, Thomas?"

Tobias hesitated for a minute, but at last deciding that the three Professors were trustworthy enough to get to know Accemenla. He shakily unhooked her chime from his belt and rang it.

The clear note of the chime seemed magnified by the silence that hung thick in the room as the three Professors watched Tobias's every movement with intense interest. The thick white smoke that drifted from the chime's end settled into the wiry form of the Tarsix, who materialized on the carpet between sofa and table.

Accemenla's appearance caused an immediate reaction from all three Professors. They leaned in closer to her, conversing excitedly. Accemenla's head spun from one to the next, taking them in with puzzlement and slight alarm as they drew closer.

"Clearly nocturnal, look at the size of those eyes, it could never stand normal daylight…"

"It's a tree-dweller; note the opposable thumbs and toes and the gripping claws…"

"The degree of rotation on the head is astounding; reminds me of a Noctowl…"

_What's going on here? _Accemenla asked in exasperation, broadcasting her irritation for all in the room to hear.

This elicited another flood of observations from the Professors.

"Obviously a psychic-type, then," Professor Elm proclaimed.

"I wonder if that tail is prehensile," Professor Birch said.

Only Professor Oak though to answer Accemenla's question. "Your trainer brought you here for us to meet," he told the Pokemon, smiling down at her. "We've never seen one of your kind before."

_My "trainer?" _Accemenla wondered, her head rotating until it faced Tobias.

"That's what they call guides here," he explained as her large eyes fell upon him at last.

_Really? Trainer. What an odd term. _One of her ears flicked thoughtfully. Tobias guessed that she was filing this fact away to be dealt with later. For the time being, she turned her full attention back to Professor Oak. _You wish to know more about my species?_

Professor Oak nodded. "That's right. I would be very interested to hear more about you and your kind."

_Certainly, _Accemenla agreed. She bounded up onto the table and across to Professor Oak, snatching a sandwich as she passed the tray. Chewing noisily, she plopped down between the Professor and Ralph. _What is it that you want to know?_

The Professors spent the next several minutes interviewing the Tarsix about everything from her preferred habitat to the purpose of the white eyespots on her chest. Tobias could tell that she was enjoying the limelight, levitating another sandwich towards her after polishing off the first to impress her rapt audience. Tobias and Ralph, largely forgotten, reached for sandwiches of their own and ate quietly. Tobias was grateful to have shunted the center of attention away from him and shot the occasional nervous glance out the door through which Jacob had disappeared. Ralph, on the other hand, merely appeared bored and impatient. He fidgeted nervously, and Tobias could tell that his mind was on the League Championship.

At last, he could bear it no longer. "Umm, Professors?" he asked tentatively. "Can I go now, or is there something else that you wanted me for?"

"Hmm?" Professor Oak asked, turning away from Accemenla for a moment. "Ah, yes, Ralph. I'm sorry to have forgotten about you there. Certainly, you may leave whenever you want. I hadn't realized that it was getting so late."

Ralph stood. "Nah, it's no problem. Well, I think I'll be going then. Bye, Professors."

"Thank you for bringing Thomas for me, Ralph," Professor Elm said as he and the rest of the Professors turned their attention away from Accemenla. She was relieved for the short respite, as she was growing annoyed with the constant questions posed by the excited researchers. Ralph's question had come just after she had told Professor Birch, with considerable irritation, that she had no idea what purpose the blue tuft on her tail had, other than to be aesthetically pleasing. "I'm so sorry that I wasn't able to come and get him myself, but I'm afraid that other business came up…"

"Really, it was no problem," Ralph repeated, blushing slightly. "Any time." He turned to Tobias. "Well, see you, I guess," he told Tobias. "Good luck."

"Goodbye," Tobias replied, and Ralph trotted out of the door and back out into the maze of hallways beyond. He wondered briefly what sort of "other business" Professor Elm would consider more important than the opportunity to speak with someone from an unknown region, but was distracted as Professor Oak addressed him.

"I'm afraid we haven't been very hospitable," he admitted. "We're just an excitable group of old coots, and sometimes we forget that there are people who aren't enthralled by our work quite as much as we are."

"It's not a big deal, really," Tobias began, but Professor Birch waved his response away dismissively.

"Oh, be honest. It's not fair of us to just leave you sitting over there waiting for us to finish our work. Now, I assume that you'll be staying here with Professor Elm here for a few days?"

Tobias hadn't really thought about this, actually. He'd been so wrapped up in the strangeness of his situation and the dizzying new world that he'd found himself in that he had completely ignored such pressing matters as where he could find a place to eat and sleep in this strange land. He supposed that Professor Elm's lab would suit well enough, and nodded.

"Well, then, there's no need for us to be badgering you for information too much just yet," Professor Birch said. "You've already given us plenty of information to work with," he continued, indicating Tobias's guidebook, still sitting on the table. "That should keep us happy for a day or two at least. It certainly seems to be thorough."

"Yeah, it is," Tobias replied. Reminded of Ralph's description of Johto's impressive machines, he added, "I guess you could sort of call it Waytar's Pokedex."

"Excellent, excellent. I think that we'll give you and your Pokemon some time to yourselves, then. I'm sure that you're very tired from all of your adventures today and have a lot to think about."

This was true, and Tobias accepted the offer gratefully. Professor Elm stood and motioned for Tobias to do likewise. "Let's find a room for you, then," he announced. "Come along, this way."

He led Tobias out of the room, Accemenla scampering behind. Seeing that he was being left behind, Jinx croaked in annoyance and hopped off of the sofa arm, flapping over to land atop Tobias's head. Professors Birch and Oak remained, now inspecting Tobias's guidebook once more and conversing in low tones. Again Tobias found himself being guided throughout the maze of corridors that made up Professor Elm's Lab.

At last, the quartet reached the area of the lab set aside for visitors. "Professor Birch is staying there," Professor Elm told Tobias, indicating a door marked "28," "and Professor Oak there." He indicated the door across the hall. "Now, there should be an open room a little farther down the hall here…"

As he was speaking, the door just ahead of them, which was marked "32," swung to release a sandy-haired girl. She had apparently heard Professor Elm's voice as he, Tobias, and Accemenla had approached his door and wished to speak with the Professor about something. "Professor Elm!" she called, hurrying up to the man, who suddenly appeared exceedingly uncomfortable. "How is--?"

"Fine, fine," Professor Elm replied hastily, cutting the girl off with a nervous glance at Tobias. "He's calmed down quite a bit. Ah, Marie, you haven't met Thomas, have you?"

Marie inspected Tobias critically. Meanwhile, he stared back at her with equal interest. She was apparently a trainer, as she wore the quintessential belt and Pokeballs about her waist. Tobias guessed that she must be about his age, though she was considerably taller than he himself. "No, I don't think so," she replied.

"Thomas has come to us through a rather unusual set of circumstances, much like yourself," Professor Elm informed her. "He's from a new region."

"Really?" Marie asked, pale blue eyes lighting up with excitement. "A new region?"

"Yes, that's right. Here, why don't I leave you two to get to know one another for a bit. Thomas, your room is just down the hall a ways, number thirty-five." The white-coated Professor beat a hasty retreat, leaving Tobias and Marie to stare after his retreating form, puzzled.

_What an odd man, _Accemenla mused.

Marie's eyes locked on to the short psychic type, currently leaning casually against the wall near Tobias's knees. "Wow, a new Pokemon!" she cried, reaching for the Pokedex at her belt just as Ralph had.

The device, exactly like Ralph's before it, at first claimed that Accemenla did not match any official species listings. This time its sightings search did pull up information, however, though it was nothing more than what Ralph's Pokedex had recorded earlier.

Marie returned the Pokedex to her belt and turned her attention back to Tobias. "So you're from a different region, huh?"

"Yes," Tobias replied. "I'm staying with Professor Elm for a while before we can figure out how I can get home. So, what about you? Why are you here?"

Marie seemed reluctant to answer, biting her lip nervously and eyeing Tobias askance. At last she answered, "I caught a Pokemon, but it was acting very strange. I brought it here to have Professor Elm look at it and I'm staying here until he can figure out what's wrong with it." She spoke the words slowly, choosing carefully as though reluctant to let something slip.

Tobias wondered why one would come straight to Professor Elm, clearly a respected man in the field of Pokemon, rather than going to a nurse for help with a Pokemon like this. He didn't press the issue, however, and Marie retreated once more into her room. Tobias continued on until he found his door and pushed it open.

Apparently the room was built to accommodate a party of as many as four trainers, as it was occupied by two bunk beds, which were neatly made up and looked very inviting to the exhausted Tobias. He plopped down on the bottom bunk nearest him and leaned back against the wall. Accemenla scaled the bunk opposite his, dangling her long-toed feet over the edge of the bed and peering down at him. Jinx fluttered over and perched on one of the rungs of the wooden ladder that led up to the top bunk.

Tobias decided to release Chevron. He reached for the Zigzagoon's chime, feeling ashamed that he hadn't thought to release him earlier. The inquisitive Pokemon must be feeling incredibly bored by now.

Chevron shook himself thoroughly as he appeared on the hardwood floor of the room, turning his bright eyes upon Tobias. "Zig! Goon zig zagzigoon!" he barked delightedly and leaped up to the bed next to his guide.

"Hey, Chevron," Tobias said, unable to keep himself from smiling at the Zigzagoon's cheer. He allowed Chevron to climb into his lap for a good scratching, allowing his mind to wander even as his eyes drifted around the room.

In a frame above the bed opposite was another of the Kanto/Johto maps like the one in the Pokemon center, though this one was considerably smaller. A small window between the two beds opened onto a broad stretch of manicured grass, apparently an exercise area of some kind for Pokemon, as Tobias could make out small moving shapes in the reddish, fading light of evening. Though for now he was content with the dim light filtering in through the window, he would soon have to light the strange lamp that sat on the chest just beneath it. Tobias was still mistrustful of the lamps in this region, which seemed to be fueled not by oil but by some other invisible force.

_So, ready to get back to Waytar, are we? _Accemenla asked casually from her high perch. She was staring out of the window as she said this, apparently pleased to see that the strange bright sun was retiring for the evening in the same way that it did in her homeland.

"Of course," Tobias replied, puzzled by the question. "Why, what else would I do?"

_Well, you just got here, _Accemenla pointed out. _Why not stay a bit and get to know the place? _

"I don't belong here," Tobias replied firmly, shaking his head. "This is a whole different world, Accemenla, and these aren't my people. They worship the legendaries," he added, lowering his voice slightly as though hardly daring to speak aloud of the heinous practice.

Accemenla's head swiveled around so that she could stare at him. _Really? _she asked sharply.

"Yeah," Tobias replied, nodding. "Ralph was telling me about it."

Accemenla was silent for several moments, pondering. _That is troubling, _she announced at last. _Perhaps you are right. _

The room was silent once more, save for the quiet scratching of Tobias's fingers through Chevron's fur. The Zigzagoon was dozing contentedly, and Jinx too was beginning to succumb to slumber once more as well, for though he, as a Murkrow, could go for days at a time without sleep, he would as a result be forced to rest for nearly as long as he had forced himself to stay awake.

At last Tobias gently removed Chevron from his lap and set him down at the end of the bunk. Sliding his backpack off, he let it fall quietly to the floor and undid his belt, hanging it over the rail of the bunk above him. He burrowed down under the covers, his tired mind and body succumbing to sleep quickly and without a fight.

He awoke several hours later in the dead of night, feeling ravenously hungry. His only dinner had been the small sandwich that he had eaten so long ago in the room where he had met the Professors. The room was lit now by an eerie filtering in through the window. Intrigued, Tobias sat up in bed, leaning out so that he could better see outside.

The moon shone a strong and brilliant silver in the dark night sky, with a pure radiance that Tobias could not recall seeing before. He was accustomed to a watery, yellowish presence in the night sky, not this resolute, piercing rift in the dark blackness of the night. Now, however, it was not black at all, but punctured by numerous tiny pinpricks of light. They hovered all around the foreign moon, winking knowingly down at the awed human.

Accemenla, too, seemed entranced by the strange nightscape. She was silhouetted against the abnormally bright sky, her back to Tobias as she stared out of the window. "Accemenla," Tobias hissed quietly, for fear of waking Jinx or Chevron.

The Tarsix's ears perked up, and she half-turned to look at him. "I'm going to try to go and get something to eat, I'm really starving," Tobias told her. "Do you want me to get you anything."

_No, _Accemenla replied. _I have far greater matters to concern myself with at the moment. _

She returned to staring out of the window, sitting as still as though she had been turned to stone by the power of this strange moon. Tobias quietly got out of bed and pushed open his room's door, peering down the hall in either direction.

He walked down towards the Professors' rooms, hoping that one of them might yet be awake to tell him where the kitchens were. No light filtered from beneath their doors, however, and Tobias was left to wander the endless hallways aimlessly, hoping to stumble across some source of food.

As he padded stealthily down the empty, darkened passages, however, he began to grow more and more uneasy. The eerily similar, empty corridors were rife with darkened alcoves and shadowy crossroads where several halls met. As he crept along, Tobias's mind was filled with irrational fears of what might be lurking in these darkened halls. Nameless terrors assailed him, though Tobias told himself repeatedly that there was nothing at all to be afraid of; surely there would be no dangerous creatures roaming Professor Elm's laboratory at night.

Tobias couldn't get his father's old ghost stories out of his head, however, and his creeping became increasingly hurried and his heart beat faster as he reached each identical turnoff. He had always been somewhat of a sucker for ghost stories; though invariably terrified by them, he was strangely fascinated by them and could never resist the prospect of hearing a new one.

Perhaps his most favorite--or least favorite, he supposed, as they were the ones that chilled him the most and had caused him the most sleepless nights out of the lot--were the ones that spoke of the eerie ghost-type Pokemon Polphades.

Polphades was a Pokemon with no visible form; all that one could normally see of the creature was a pair of luminescent purple eyes. Polphades had no body of its own; it could possess any inanimate object. Pebbles, bits of garbage, water--the ghost-type would draw the tangible items about itself with some unseen force to form a solid body of sorts.

What Polphades desired most, however, was a body of its own--the body of a dead creature for it to control. And so, the ghost would seek out a dead body lying in the woods, perhaps the partially-eaten corpse of a Stantler brought down by a wild Growlithe pack, and claim it for its own. Polphades would inhabit the dead flesh of the Stantler, and the Pokemon would rise again, a purple fire burning in its soulless eyes.

The stories that Tobias had been told most often, however, were about the Polphades that desired something more, desired the body of a human for themselves. In the past, the ghost had been particularly troublesome, frequenting graveyards and terrorizing nearby settlements as the bodies interred there clawed their way back to the surface and reemerged into the living world as mockeries of the life that they had formerly led. Nowadays the dead were cremated, leaving nothing but drifting ash for the ghost-type to make use of.

Some Polphades made it a practice to create bodies for their own use. Young, strong guides made excellent vehicles for their restless spirits. The Polphades would wait in its most unsubstantial form, lurking unnoticed in the shadows until a likely candidate came along. It would then quickly assemble a physical form and attack…

Tobias was practically running down the hall as he recalled this, shooting nervous glances over his shoulder as he did. He could imagine a pair of purple eyes following his frenzied path through the building, just waiting for the appropriate moment to strike. He was now completely lost, traveling blindly.

At last he saw a strip of light shining from beneath a door up ahead. He slowed to a halt before it, panting and sweating profusely. Relief flooded his veins as he reached out to turn the knob on the door, the dark creatures lurking in his imagination banished by the warm, cheery light and the sound of voices from beyond it. What he heard them say, however, made him hesitate before opening the door.

"…scared the boy half to death," came Professor Elm's agitated voice.

"He's been through a lot lately, Jacob has," Professor Oak's more mellow, laid-back tone replied. "You know that, Elm. He didn't mean Thomas any harm."

"Perhaps not, and I realize that he's had a rough time of it since Silmarrit departed, but that's no excuse for his behavior nowadays. He's like a man possessed."

There was the sound of a door opening and shutting as someone else entered the room, and the Professors' conversation about Jacob ceased. "How is he?" Professor Oak asked the newcomer sharply.

"Same as before," Professor Birch's gruff voice said. "Mad as hell and raging uncontrollably. He seems to have calmed down a little bit, though. He at least didn't try to fry Ernello this time."

There was a resigned sigh from some member present. "I just wish he'd talk to us. Clearly, there's something wrong--I've never heard of him acting at all like this before, and perhaps he has some sort of insight as to what's going on in the world nowadays," Professor Elm said.

"Do you think Thomas has anything to do with it?" Professor Oak asked.

"Jacob certainly seemed to think so," Professor Elm replied grimly. Tobias's heart skipped a beat and a thrill of adrenaline rushed through him. He had the acute feeling that he shouldn't be standing out here, listening to the Professors' conversation like this, but he couldn't seem to tear himself away. "Did he say anything to you about it, Birch?"

"Nah," Professor Birch growled irritably. "He's in one of those moods again. Won't speak to anybody but that Gligar of his. I think it was the disappointment--he was really hoping for some sign that the region that the boy's from is the one that Silmarrit told him about."

"Something is going on," Professor Oak muttered quietly. "Something subtle and yet terribly important all the same. The Pokemon know; they always know, but they can't express it. I've tried talking with a few wild psychic-types, and they can't seem to put into words. They say something is coming--something big, something dangerous--but they don't know what it is."

"The data is there," Professor Elm announced in an angry tone, "but we just can't interpret its meaning! The numbers are astounding, from the radical increase in legendary sightings to the explosion of the Skarmory population, but we can't find the pattern, the common thread that ties them all together."

There was a thud, as though someone had pounded a fist on the table in rage. "And so here we are, powerless to stop whatever it is that is coming our way!"

There was a prolonged silence, during which Tobias strained to hear over the thudding of his own heart. At last, a soft voice pierced the tense silence. "I think," said Professor Oak gravely, "that Thomas has chosen a very poor time to visit Johto."


	20. Caged Lightning

Author's Notes: Thanks for all of your reviews. And PNEK MEKS, you can rest assured that the world is probably not ending…yet.

**Chapter Twenty: Caged Lightning**

A very poor time, indeed! Tobias crept slowly away from the door, slinking away down the hallway as quietly as he could. He couldn't bring himself to barge in on the grave conversation still going on in the room where the professors were. Fear prickled the hair on Tobias's neck as he stole through the darkened corridors once more, this time stalked by demons all too real.

This new land seemed to be sinking into chaos, far more so than Ralph had made out. Something big was coming, Professor Oak had said. Just his luck, that he would find himself stranded in this deteriorating land without any notion of how to return home. More chilling, though, was the fact that some people might equate his arrival with this buildup of terrible events, an omen of the doom to come. Completely preposterous, of course, but it might make things difficult, make him the scapegoat.

Another terrified flight through the hallways brought Tobias at last to the door marked "35." Tobias pushed it open gratefully, only to find that Accemenla had left the window and was now roaming restlessly about the room, investigating the furniture. Currently she was rummaging through one of the drawers in the nightstand upon which sat the strange lamp. She turned away at the sound of the opening door. _Ah, you're back, _she observed. _Did you find anything to eat?_

"No," Tobias whispered back. The thought of food had been driven from his mind by what he had overheard. "But I did hear something very strange."

Tobias proceeded to recount to Accemenla all that he had heard while standing silently in the hall, listening to the Professors with bated breath. The Tarsix appeared agitated by the news, toying nervously with the object that she had pulled out of the drawer. A trainer from Johto might have recognized it as an official Pokemon League pen; Accemenla clicked the button on the top as she listened.

_This land is very dangerous, _Accemenla concluded at last, after mulling Tobias's words over in her mind. _Very dangerous, indeed. _She pondered a while longer, turning to gaze pensively out of the window once more. _It must be because of the legendaries, _she announced at last. _They grow greedy for power once more. Soon they will turn upon each other once again, and humanity will be caught between them. That is why the Pokemon are behaving so erratically; the elements are becoming unbalanced as their rulers prepare to do battle again._

Tobias shivered. The very idea of the legendary creatures frightened him, as it did every Waytaran; what deadly creatures they were, that could call down storms and natural disasters on a whim, and were liable to do so if angered. _We need to get home as quickly as we can, _Accemenla said worriedly. _Waytar will once again be saved by the virtue of the shield, I'm sure. _

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Tobias sighed. "I don't even know how I got through the shield in the first place; how am I supposed to go and get back through it again?"

_I don't know, but if you did it once, you can most definitely do it again, _Accemenla stated firmly.

Tobias sighed and returned to his bed, crawling back under the covers and trying to ignore the complaints of his yet-empty stomach. Why did disaster always seem to follow on his heels? Wherever he went, misfortune seemed to tread as well.

He could just barely make out Jinx's huddled shape on the ladder rung, a smudge of deeper black against the shadowed wall. Tobias shook his head, trying to drive away nagging thoughts of the commonly held belief that Murkrow were bad luck. Jinx couldn't be blamed, and he certainly didn't fit the stereotype that most Waytarans applied to Murkrow, that of the malicious trickster.

Tobias didn't know how long he lay there in the darkness, mulling over all that he had learned in this fateful night. Confused thoughts chased each other around and around the inside of his skull, granting him no peace and no chance to rest. At last, they must have finally dissolved into the incoherency of sleep, for the next that Tobias knew he was awakened as someone opened the door to his room.

It was Professor Elm, come to escort Tobias to breakfast. Brilliant morning light streamed in through the room's window, and Accemenla was nowhere to be seen. Tobias assumed that she must have returned to her chime. Jinx was awake as well, and apparently less than fond of the light, as he had turned so that his back was to the window, staring moodily in the direction of the doorway. "Oh, I'm sorry," Professor Elm exclaimed, "I thought that you would already be up."

"It's okay," Tobias sighed, pushing aside the covers. Chevron, disturbed by his movements, yawned and opened his beady black eyes. Though taken aback by the intensity of the early morning light, curiosity quickly overcame fear and he jumped down from the bed and crossed to the window, peering up at it with interest.

"Come on, Chevron, breakfast," Tobias told him. "You can do that later." He reached up to grab his belt off of the rail and strapped it around his waist as Jinx fluttered up to sit on his head as usual. Professor Elm waited patiently until Tobias and his Pokemon were ready, then led the way to the dining room.

Upon reaching it, Tobias found it to be rather small and cozy, decked out just like one might expect a dining room in a normal home to be. A large round table, covered by a spotless white tablecloth, was surrounded by eight elegant wooden chairs. A china cabinet stood against one wall, and a chandelier hung from the ceiling, glittering in the light streaming through the several windows set into the room. It seemed jarring to Tobias to find such an elegant room in this huge building of long, sterile corridors. He had to remind himself that this was, after all, where Professor Elm actually lived.

Marie and the other two Professors were already seated at the table, as well as the other tow Professors. Tobias was relieved to see that Jacob wasn't there, and also fascinated by the two Pokemon seated next to Marie. One was a bizarre chicken-like creature, its long feathery arms ending in triple-clawed hands. The other was one with which Tobias was familiar, a Sentret balancing precariously on its tail in order to reach the tabletop from its chair.

Professor Elm motioned for Tobias to be seated and bustled out of the room, returning with three plates of waffles. "I'm sorry, I had forgotten that you had a third Pokemon with you and I only made up three," he explained, setting a plate down in front of Chevron, who had taken the seat next to Tobias, before positioning one before the boy himself and another slightly to the side for Jinx, who had landed on the table next to his guide. "Where is your Tarsix, though?"

"I don't think that she'll be eating with us. She doesn't like the light, you see." He indicated the large windows.

"Ah, yes, of course," Professor Elm said with a smile. "Well, that worked out, then." He disappeared into the kitchen once more and returned with a plate for himself. Tobias reached for a jar of berry sauce to spread on his waffles, and for a few minutes the room was quiet, save for the sounds of eating and the rustle of newspaper from the direction of Professors Birch and Oak, who had finished their breakfasts and were now reading quietly.

At last Professor Birch laid down his section and reached into one of the pockets of his lab coat. "Here, I got this for you," he told Tobias, sliding a Pokedex to him across the table. Tobias picked up the smooth, flat device and studied it with interest. It shone a light green in his hands, stamped in the center with a Pokeball symbol. He opened it up, only to have it greet him in a flat, dispassionate voice.

"Congratulations, new trainer," it chirped. "Please input your personal information to continue."

"I thought that it was only fair that we give you something to learn a bit more about Johto after all that you're teaching us about Waytar," Professor Birch explained. "You know how a Pokedex works, don't you?"

"More or less," Tobias replied, fiddling with the buttons that lay to the right of the Pokedex's screen until he found the one that controlled the cursor that allowed him to type his name into the space provided. As he typed "Thomas Goldspur," he wondered if it was really necessary that he continue to conceal his true identity. It was a bit late now, as he had already told everyone that his name was Thomas, but he still felt a bit wistful as he officially announced it.

"You're a celebrity now, Thomas," Professor Oak announced, setting his section of the paper down as well. "Professor Elm's been beating the reporters off with a stick all morning. They caught wind of you from the trainers at the Pokemon center in Cianwood city, and now news crews are camping out on Professor Elm's doorstep."

Seeing the look of shame and guilt on Tobias's face as Professor Oak said this, Professor Elm quickly added, "It's not your fault, really. People are just curious and want to know more about you, that's all."

"Speaking of that," Professor Birch said, apparently preparing to launch into a topic that he had been waiting to discuss for some time, "I was reading through your guidebook last night and it seemed to be mentioning something about a 'shield' around Waytar. What is that?"

Tobias sighed; the inevitable question had surfaced at last. He explained as best he could the shield's origins and its purpose. Marie and the two Professors listened with interest to the drawn-out description. Explaining what the shield did led to why it had been erected, which led to the history of Waytar itself. As he reached the part about the legendary wars, where Mayan Waytar fought against the people who had gone over to the side of the legendaries, Professor Elm choked on his mouthful of waffle and Marie paled. Professor Birch shot a nervous glance at Professor Oak, the only one who remained calm and unruffled by the tale. He nodded at Tobias, politely asking that he continue with his tale.

"So, that's why we have the shield," Tobias finished at last. "It was originally there to protect us from the evil legendary Pokemon, but now it's supposed to be keeping us safe from the blasted world beyond our continent."

"A most interesting tale," muttered Professor Oak. "Though I'm afraid that it is not entirely correct. After all, the land beyond Waytar obviously survived the war, as did we humans and the legendary creatures themselves."

"I know that I've heard the name Waytar before," Professor Elm said. "I'll look it up later today."

"But if there's this shield up over Waytar, how did you get here?" Professor Birch asked. "It's supposed to keep people in as well as out, isn't it? Is there some sort of problem with it?"

"Of course there's not a problem with it," Tobias snapped. "It's protected out land for years." Despite his hasty response, a small prickle of doubt jabbed at his conscience. How had he made it through the shield? What if it really was failing, at a time when it looked like it might be needed once more?

"Perhaps that's why we've never discovered the region before," Professor Elm mused. "If this shield can conceal the presence of the continent and prevent anything from entering or leaving, it's no wonder that we haven't heard of it."

"Thank you very much, Thomas," Professor Oak said. "You've given us another very important piece of information about your homeland. Why don't you spend some time exploring the grounds of the lab? You and your Pokemon could probably use a bit of time outside after being cooped up in this big building."

"Sure," Tobias replied.

"There are several entrances to the yard," Professor Elm told him, clearing away the plates still on the table. "Just head out of the door that we came in by, go left down the hall until you reach see the door with the exit sign above it and go out there. Marie can show you."

Marie stood, her Pokemon leaping down from their chairs to join her. "Follow me," she said to Tobias, who did so, Chevron following at his heels and Jinx assuming his usual perch. As they walked along, Tobias decided to test his Pokedex on Marie's chicken-Pokemon.

"Combusken, the young fowl Pokemon," the machine announced as he trained it on the yellow and orange bird. "Combusken is the evolved form of Torchic. Rarely seen in the wild, Combusken are generally solitary birds that live in hilly regions. They build up the muscles in their legs by running up and down hillsides all day. Combusken is a fire- and fighting-type. This individual is male and rated at experience level seventeen, with attacks peck, double kick, ember, and focus energy."

Tobias turned his Pokedex off and slid it into one of the pockets of his pants as Marie pushed the door to the outside open. Outside was a large stretch of open grass, kept short and tame. Here and there a tree sprouted at random from the flat plain, and the occasional clump of bushes served to offset the flat, boring nature of the area.

In the distance Tobias could make out a terrain change, where the manicured exercise area gave way to a marshy lowland. Tall reeds poked up from the wet ground and cattails swayed in the wind. Everywhere Tobias looked he could see Pokemon, some moving resolutely across the grounds as though intent on some personal errand, others merely romping around or play-fighting with other lab residents. Apparently, Professor Elm kept a large Pokemon population at his lab to study, and he had created this outdoor area for them to live in, trying to give each a slice of its own particular habitat.

As looked out across the trimmed grass, an idea occurred to him. He turned to Marie, who was also standing still and looking out across the landscape before him, "Hey, you're a trainer. This seems like a good place for a battle. What do you say?"

She turned to him with a frown. "No, I'm sorry, but I have something else that I need to do right now. Maybe later." She returned to gazing out across the lawn before apparently making up her mind and walking off, angling towards an area of rougher terrain populated by scraggly weeds and large boulders. Her Combusken followed at a trot, her Sentret lagging a bit behind as he stopped every few paces to rise up onto his tail and survey the area.

Tobias sighed and looked down at Chevron, who was standing near his right foot, eyeing the land before him eagerly. He had hoped that he might have been able to get Chevron to evolve if he battled with Marie. As it was, he would just have to wait and see if would battle him later. For now, he might as well take the time to explore the area and find out what sort of Pokemon lived with the Professor.

"Go ahead, Chevron," he told the excited Zigzagoon. "You can explore all you want. I don't think that there'll be any sort of danger here." Chevron barked appreciatively and darted off across the lawn, his path erratic as he became distracted by objects that lay to either side of his trajectory. Tobias watched him go with a smile and then addressed Jinx, rolling his eyes upwards but still failing to catch sight of the Murkrow. "You can go to, if you want. I don't know that Professor Elm has much of anything shiny lying about his yard, though."

"Murrr. Murkrow krow," Jinx cawed, lifting off from Tobias's head and circling above. He flapped off to begin an aerial sweep of the grounds, trusting Tobias to take care of himself.

Tobias wandered aimlessly across the yard, admiring the many species of Pokemon that roamed across it. Some he was familiar with, such as the Weedle that inched across the leaves that covered the floor of the forest area, but many were new. Among those that most fascinated Tobias were the Girafarig, Pokemon with long necks that browsed from the trees in the plains section. He made good use of his new Pokedex, which cheerfully provided information on the various species that he encountered.

Jinx soon returned, cawing excitedly and circling above Tobias's head. "What is it Jinx?" he called up to his Murkrow. "Did you find something?"

Jinx cackled the affirmative and banked off to the right, clearly hoping that Tobias would follow. The boy did so, intrigued. He guessed that the Murkrow had found something shiny, of course, but wondered why the bird hadn't simply gotten it himself and brought it back for Tobias to admire.

Tobias waded through waist-high grass and squelched through a miniature swamp in pursuit of Jinx, who at last came to a halt above an imposing fence. Tobias approached it with curiosity. Sturdy posts supported thick horizontal steel bars. Tobias guessed that the fence's roots ran deep, supporting the reinforced metal that comprised its structure. There was an inside fence as well, one that had apparently been constructed in haste, as it sagged in some areas and didn't appear too firmly staked in. This one was simple lines of wire strung along, though intermittent barbs suggested that it would be unpleasant to brush up against and mysterious disks protruded from it at regular intervals.

Jinx fluttered down to land atop the outer fence, cawing angrily and shuffling back and forth across the top. Tobias could see what he was so angry at; a brightly gleaming metal tag was tied to the fence. It winked tantalizingly in the sun but would clearly be very difficult to remove if you lacked opposable thumbs. Tobias smiled knowingly to himself as he approached. "Sorry, Jinx, but I don't think that Professor Elm would really want us taking stuff off of his fence," he called up to the birds. Jinx replied with an angry caw that apparently expressed his disbelief that anyone would want to keep something so shiny chained up to a big fence anyway, that it must have been put there mistakenly and they should take it off.

Tobias walked up to the fence curiously. The small tag was hanging next to a sign that read, in bold black letters, "WARNING: This enclosure is meant to house dangerous Pokemon that might injure humans or other Pokemon. Do not attempt to climb fence or provoke Pokemon"

Tobias peered with interest through bars of the fence at the environment beyond. It was an all-purpose sort of affair, sporting a rocky area near the back, several trees, tall grass, and a small pond near the center. It appeared to be empty, however. He turned to read the small tag that had captivated Jinx's interest. It was printed only with a number, 243.

Tobias looked through the fence once more, hoping to catch some sight of a dangerous Pokemon. "I think that we should leave this here, Jinx," he called to the Murkrow. Jinx didn't agree, and made his opinion known loudly. As Tobias turned to look up at him, he thought that he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned back to the pen quickly, and was rewarded with the sight of a blur of motion. It sliced through the tall grass like the wind itself, moving so fast that it could almost not be seen.

Tobias didn't even have time to react as it approached his side of the enclosure. It came to an abrupt halt before the fence, and Tobias at last caught sight of what it was. Huge claws scraped long furrows in the earth as the Pokemon braked, its momentum carrying it to within an inch of the inner fence. Electricity crackled and sparked all across its body, and powerful muscles rippled beneath a coat of short yellow fur. The Pokemon's red eyes glared through the double fence at the stunned boy, four-inch fangs gleaming from the corners of its mouth.

For a second, all was silent as boy and Pokemon regarded each other with surprise. Without warning, the yellow Pokemon threw back its catlike head and let out a tremendous roar. It rolled out of the creature's mouth like thunder, a jagged, ripping noise so reminiscent of a real thunderclap that Tobias could almost imagine the ragged bolt of lightning arcing down from the heavens to call it into being. The jags of electricity crisscrossing the Pokemon's hide multiplied and crawled across its black-striped pelt to disappear into the billowing cloud of purplish fur that sprouted from the back of the creature's neck. The wispy structure resembled a storm cloud, and soon pent-up electricity began to discharge from the energy-storing structure. As the Pokemon's roar came to an end it closed its eyes and hurled a massive bolt of electrical energy from the thundercloud on its back straight at the awed Tobias.

The bolt struck the inner fence with a roaring boom of superheated air, an actual rumble of thunder exploding just before Tobias's stunned face. The nodes on the fence were, fortunately, some sort of energy-absorption apparatus that channeled the deadly thunderbolt away from the defenseless boy, but residual charge fizzed and dissipated less than an inch from his face. Tobias yelped and stumbled back, Jinx exploding away from the fence in such haste that a few black feathers, torn free by his hasty ascent, drifted down to the ground below.

Tobias turned and ran from the deadly Pokemon, which had begun to growl dangerously and appeared willing to smash through the fence if necessary to reach Tobias on the other side. As his feet carried him through the tall grass of the area surrounding the fenced enclosure, Tobias's mind was reeling. What was that terrifying creature? He'd never seen a Pokemon act in such a manner before. Clearly, it was furious for some reason, unless it was insane or prone to attacking innocent humans for no reason.

As Tobias stumbled across the uneven ground, he caught sight of several figures cresting the top of the hill just ahead, running straight at him. Four trailed streaming lab coats behind them, the fifth and smallest pelting along a little ahead of the rest. Tobias slowed slightly as they drew nearer.

All three of the Professors were dashing his way, apparently quite distressed. Jacob ran with them, a strange purple Pokemon clinging to his shoulder with clawed hands and feet. The final runner was Marie, drawing even with Tobias first. She slowed to a halt and Tobias reluctantly did as well. "What happened?" she panted.

Tobias was suddenly caught in a crush of white as the three Professors and Jacob caught up to Marie, clustering around the two children in a solid ring.

"We heard thunder," gasped Profesor Birch. Though winded, he looked the better than his colleagues, especially Professor Oak, who looked like he might collapse at any moment. "What's going on?"

"I just went over to see what was in that pen over there," Tobias began, waving a hand in the direction that he had come from. "And out of nowhere this huge yellow Pokemon tries to fry me! I didn't do anything to provoke it, honest!"

"I thought as much," said Professor Elm, sliding his large glasses back up his nose, his normally pale face flushed from running.

"I'll see what I can do to calm him down," Jacob said quietly from where he stood on the outskirts of the circle of people. He trudged off towards the fenced area in a resigned fashion. Tobias watched him go in disbelief. What in the world did he think that he could do against such a monster?

"I'm sorry, Tobias," Professor Oak wheezed. "I should have told you to stay away from that area of the grounds. One would expect you to be curious about the holding pen."

"But Professor, what is that Pokemon?" Tobias asked. "Why are you keeping it here if it's so dangerous?"

The three Professors exchanged nervous glances, and Marie looked up at Professor Birch questioningly. "That Pokemon," Professor Elm said at last, "is the legendary Raikou."


	21. Rewriting History

Author's Notes: Much confusion, no? I don't know how I keep beating you to these things, Yellowspottedlizard, but it's quite probable that somebody beat me to them already. After all, there's nothing new under the sun, as they say.

Actually, Facia, Raikou has very little to do with the problem as a whole. If anything, you might possibly be able to call him one of the "good guys."

I'm going to stand by my original assertion that the world is not going to end particularly soon, PNEK MEKS. Of course, in this case I might call it somewhat of a matter of opinion.

**Chapter Twenty-One: Rewriting History**

Before Tobias had recovered from the shock of this statement enough to have any sort of reaction to it, he found himself whisked away to the dining room once more, hustled along by all three Professors, Marie trailing morosely behind. They sat the dazed boy down in one of the chairs and shoved a mug of some warm drink into his hands before reluctantly settling themselves down around the table and apprehensively waiting for the explosion.

Tobias blinked once. His fingers tightened slightly around the cup and he stuttered a few incomprehensible syllables before the language centers of his brain managed to sort out the correct message to send to his vocal cords.

"That was a _legendary_?" Tobias cried, staring wildly around at the table's other nervous occupants. "That…that _monster _that tried to kill me was a _legendary Pokemon_!"

"Yes, that was Raikou," Professor Elm restated, "one of the lesser legendary Pokemon, actually."

Tobias didn't care if it was the legendary of menial labor, it was still one of the legendary creatures. He had come within inches of going the way of many of his ancestors before him and being slaughtered by one of the legendary beasts. Fear, previously banished by shock and confusion, came flooding back in to reclaim him. He clutched the warm mug in his hands convulsively and shivered uncontrollably, staring blankly into the distance. He could see in his mind's eye the deadly red eyes glaring out at him from between the bars, the gleaming fangs made visible as the creature opened its mouth to let forth a terrible roar…

"I'm sorry he frightened you," Professor Birch began timidly, clearly unsure of how to handle Tobias's terrified withdrawal from reality. "He hasn't been thinking clearly lately. Really, I'm sure that Raikou wouldn't have attacked you under normal circumstances."

The words only barely registered in Tobias's panic-filled brain, but they had enough of an impact to jar him out of his terrified stupor. Fear was replaced by rage, and he gritted his teeth angrily, eyes focusing back on the Professor. "Wouldn't have attacked me under normal circumstances, huh? Funny, I didn't think that the legendaries had any qualms about killing people, seeing as they've slaughtered millions of them in the past. And now you've decided that you might as well catch one and stick it in a big cage, just to see what makes it tick…"

"That's not why he's…" Professor Oak began indignantly, clearly shocked by Tobias's attitude, but the young guide just rolled right over his interruption.

"…Are you all crazy? No, I suppose it's just your lineage. You may live well enough with the legendaries around, but I haven't forgotten the past. Raikou could probably smell where I came from easily enough, could tell I wasn't one of you weak-minded fools. That's why he tried to kill me! He knows who I am!" His outburst completed, Tobias took several slow, deep breaths to try to calm himself. He glared around the table at the Professors, feeling a twisted sort of pleasure at the looks of shock and hurt on their faces. Marie, on the other hand, looked at least as angry as Tobias had a minute previous. She quivered with rage, her face pale.

"Oh, so it's all about you now, is it?" she shrieked back, her hands clenched into fists. Her Combusken, which had taken the seat next to her in the hopes that the humans might consider serving more food, was now beginning to seriously regret his decision. He had sunk low in his seat, trying to become as innocuous as possible. Currently, only his three yellow crest feathers showed above the table, and they were pressed down as close to his skull as possible. "Didn't you even consider the fact that maybe there's something more important than you? Raikou isn't a murderer! He's angry with us for some reason, but whatever it is, you can bet that it's more important than you own petty troubles!" Her rebuttal finished, Marie seemed to deflate, slumping slightly in her chair.

There followed a period of silence in which Tobias and the three Professors stared in disbelief at Marie. Tobias in particular was stunned, having always thought of the girl as being a rather timid sort. Once his surprise began to fade, however, fury jabbed at him once again. Petty troubles? Was being stuck far from home in a doomed land petty? How about knowing that if you did manage to make it home, no one there would welcome you? The Combusken's eyes appeared over the edge of the table, glancing around nervously. The Pokemon hoped that the lull in noise meant that the humans were done shouting at each other.

Before Tobias could speak out again, Professor Oak said quietly, "Perhaps it would be best if we began by explaining exactly what's going on first. Once that has been done, then I assure you that you two can shout at each other as much as you want." He cast each child a stern glance and then cleared his throat, addressing Marie. "Would you please tell Thomas how you found Raikou, Marie?" he asked.

"Okay," she sniffled. Tobias was stunned. Was she actually crying? Marie raised her hand and rubbed her eyes angrily. She glared accusingly at Tobias for a moment, eyes pink and glistening, before beginning her story. "It was just a few days ago, back before you got here. I had just gotten my trainer's license and I was on my way to get my first gym badge from Whitney in Goldenrod City."

Gym badge? What was that? Tobias frowned as he listened to Marie's tale, but the girl didn't notice. Her eyes were far away and she was smiling as she recounted what had happened.

"My Combusken was really looking good in training, and my new Sentret was doing well, too," Marie continued. The Combusken, having decided that it was safe to reemerge, was now sitting up as usual in his chair. At this praise he puffed his chest out slightly and raised his crest proudly.

"I was almost to Goldenrod, within a half hour's walk, when it began to drizzle. Combusken hates rain, so I recalled him and ran for the city as fast as I could. It was almost in sight, and I hoped that I could get there before the rain really started to come down so I wouldn't get very wet.

"As I was running, though, I started to hear thunder. It wasn't normal thunder, it just kept rolling and rolling, like lighting was striking the same place over and over again. Then I saw where it was coming from; there really was lightning that just kept on coming down again and again in the same place. Whatever it was striking was somewhere in the middle of the woods, and all that I could see was the lightning bolts that flashed down into the trees. I was starting to get soaked through and the rain was coming down hard, but I was really curious, too. I decided that I would just take a peek at what was happening with the lighting, since the place that it kept striking was nearby.

"I walked through the woods, and soon I started seeing a funny light coming through the trees. It kept flickering on and off, but it was really bright. I started to hear other sounds, too. The thunder was getting louder than ever as I got closer, but it seemed to be less constant, too. There were these high-pitched shrieks coming from somewhere up ahead, and a sort of howling noise. I was a little scared, but it sounded to me like some sort of Pokemon battle, and I thought that maybe it was some rare electric Pokemon that was making the lighting strike like that. I kept going, though a little more slowly, trying to stay behind trees as much as possible, and at last I got a good glimpse of what was going on.

"Just ahead there was a clearing in the forest, and all of these flying Pokemon were attacking something in the middle of the open area. I couldn't see what it was, because it was where the lightning kept striking and it was too bright for me to look straight at it. I crouched down behind some bushes to watch. I didn't mind getting wet anymore, because it was really exciting. I thought it was a sort of wild Pokemon battle-whatever the lighting Pokemon was, it had intruded on the flying Pokemon's territory and they were trying to drive it off.

"The Pokemon in the center was beginning to get tired. It wasn't calling down lighting as much anymore, and I was starting to be able to see it between strikes. It was a big yellow cat, for all that I could see. It was still hard for me to catch sight of it, because now my view was getting blocked by all of the flying Pokemon. They were covered in metal, with funny wings that rippled instead of flapping. It took a moment before I recognized them: Skarmory, a huge flock of them. They were converging on the Pokemon in the middle, and I was getting excited because I figured that the Skarmory were going to win soon and the electric Pokemon would run away and leave their territory alone. Perhaps after it left I could capture one of the injured Skarmory; I was pretty sure that they were rare and pretty powerful, too.

"But as I watched, I started to get the feeling that something wasn't right. I could hear the yellow Pokemon roaring and yelping from somewhere in the middle of all Skarmory, but it wasn't running away. More and more of the birds kept coming at it, and suddenly I realized that they weren't trying to drive it away-they were trying to kill it! The yellow Pokemon was putting up a good fight, though, and it kept on zapping the birds even though it wasn't strong enough to keep calling down lightning bolts. Finally, it had knocked out so many of them that the ones that were left just gave up and flew away. As soon as they were gone, the big yellow Pokemon collapsed.

"I was very excited and I ran out into the clearing. I wanted to see what the big yellow Pokemon was, and I thought that I might be able to capture it, as it had obviously been weakened by the Skarmory. It was only when I actually made it out into the open that I saw what had truly transpired.

"There were dozens of Skarmory lying on the ground around the clearing, ones that I had thought were knocked out. But they weren't knocked out-they were dead! The electrical shocks put out by the yellow Pokemon had been enough to kill them. Many were horribly disfigured, their metal armor having melted and run or fused together in a grotesque fashion. A few of the corpses even twitched a little as I walked past, I guess because there was still a bit of electricity in their systems."

Marie was no longer smiling as she recounted the tale. She had begun to shiver, and her eyes, though still focused on nothing, looked terror-stricken. Her Combusken, sensing another shift in his trainer's mood, was eyeing her anxiously, clearly distressed by her behavior. Marie continued her tale, her voice now barely above a whisper.

"I wanted to go back, to run to the city as fast as I could and get away from the horrible place. I was cold and I was scared, but something made me keep walking. I guess it was just a sort of morbid fascination or something, but I couldn't make myself run, not without at least seeing what the yellow Pokemon was. I kept walking and stopped just as I reached the center area.

"It actually took me a couple moments to realize that it was Raikou. He looked terrible; there were huge gashes and puncture wounds all across his fur, and the purple thundercloud on his back was oddly singed and blackened, like it had been overloaded. Worst of all was his face; I guess the Skarmory had been trying to get his eyes, because they had really torn his head apart. There was blood everywhere, mixing in with the water in the puddles at my feet. Raikou was still alive, as I could see by the way his chest was rising and falling slightly as I looked at him, blood gushing from his injuries.

"At first I couldn't move or even think for shock. Here was Raikou, one of the most powerful Pokemon in the world and one which I had been told legends about all of my life, lying on the ground and made almost unrecognizable by his wounds. Then all that I could think about was the Skarmory; why had they attacked him? Raikou was known to be a fairly benevolent legendary, less prone to violent rages than Entei, and I couldn't imagine that he would have done anything to provoke the flock. They shouldn't have just attacked him either, because he watches over the land like all of the other legendaries and keeps the elements in balance.

"I guess that while my rational mind was still reeling, my trainer instincts took over. Here was a Pokemon that was clearly hurt and in need of medical treatment. Not only that, but it was a rare Pokemon, a legendary, in fact. Any great trainer would give almost anything to add Raikou to their team. And how else was I supposed to get him to the Pokemon center, if not in a Pokeball? I grabbed an empty one from my belt and tossed it at him. His eyes snapped open as the ball struck him, and he appeared ready to drag himself back to his feet to face me before he was drawn into the ball. I was surprised by how much he struggled despite his condition, but at last the Pokeball fell still and he was mine.

"I stared at the Pokeball for a few seconds, uncomprehending, then hurried over and picked it up off the bloody grass. I couldn't believe it! I had only just begun training, and already I had captured a legendary Pokemon! I was so happy that I almost forgot about Raikou's wounds. Fortunately, I got a grip on myself pretty quickly and ran to the Pokemon center as fast as I could.

"The head nurse was afraid that Raikou might not make it. He was barely breathing when I released him for her in the center's hospital area; she wanted me there because she said that sometimes injured legendary Pokemon can become very dangerous and might even attack people trying to help them unless their trainer is there to calm them down. He didn't respond at all, though, and the nurse sent me away quickly.

"I couldn't sleep that entire night at the center. The nurse brought me some medicine, too. She was worried that I might get sick after all the time that I had spent out in the rain, watching the battle, and told me not to worry, that she had called Nurse Joy in to work on this case personally. I didn't care about myself, though. All that I cared about was that Raikou would get better and wouldn't die. Even if I had been able to sleep, I'm sure that I would have had terrible nightmares about the battle and about all the dead Skarmory.

"He didn't die-and as soon as he was able, he trashed the center. It was my third day there, and I was eating lunch, feeling a lot better as Nurse Joy had told me that morning Raikou was responding well to treatment and had stabilized. Combusken and Sentret were having lunch with me, and I was telling them all of the stories that I had heard about Raikou, though I'm sure that at least Sentret had heard them all, and probably more, from his family.

"Suddenly, the center erupted in chaos. A nurse came running out of the hospital area screaming, and suddenly all of the electrical devices in the area started to go funny. The TV started blaring away and flipping channels for no reason, the storage computers started spitting Pokeballs all across the floors, and the healing machine began to whine dangerously. Then there was there was this huge power surge and everything just went crazy. All of the computer screens blew out and even the fluorescent lights shattered. At first most of the trainers had just stood around, staring at the hysterical nurse and wondering what was going on, but now most of them started panicking. People were running madly for the doors, but they had jammed shut for some reason and it took a minute to push them open. Pokemon were stampeding after their trainers, some coming close to accidentally trampling the humans in their paths in their panic. A few trainers hung back or actually started running for the back of the center when they heard Raikou's call, however; he started roaring with all of his might, and you could hear further explosions from farther back in the center. I got up and was about to run back with them, when all of a sudden the noise stopped.

"Nurse Joy came walking out from the back area, cool as you please, a Pokeball in her hand. 'Here you are, dear,' she said, or something like that, 'he's a little bit grouchy. Mind you keep an eye on him and make sure he gets plenty of rest.' It was quite a sight; the Pokemon center was pretty well trashed, there was broken glass everywhere and a few dazed trainers just standing around, wondering what had happened, but there was Nurse Joy, not a hair out of place, smiling cheerfully down at me as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. She's seen everything, that one.

"So I took Raikou with me and decided to hang around the city for a few days so I could see the sights before I took on Whitney. It wasn't long, though, before Raikou figured out how to let himself out of his Pokeball. He leapt out right in the middle of a busy street and started roaring like mad. He turned around to me, and, and…" Marie sniffled pitifully and broke off for a minute. "He wanted to kill me, too! I could tell from the way that he looked at me. He was charging up for another electric attack, but I returned him before he could unleash it. I ran back to what was left of the Pokemon center, trying to shove past all of the people on the street who had seen him and who were trying to question me.

"Raikou wouldn't stay put; every few minutes he'd burst out of his ball again and I'd have to recall him before he could do anybody any harm. He was getting angrier and angrier, I guess because he could tell that he wasn't in control anymore, that I could always just send him back to his Pokeball if he kept trying to act up.

"I made it back to the Pokemon center and told the nurse about what was going on, and she said to send Raikou here, to Professor Elm, to find out if he knew why Raikou might be acting like this. She booted up one of the few intact transfer machines and sent him over here, and he's been in that pen ever since."

Marie was clearly on the verge of tears but seemed determined to retain her dignity as much as possible as she brought her tale to a conclusion . "I just don't know why he's so mad at me. I saved his life, after all, and now he's acting as though I did something wrong. Why is he acting like this? Legendaries are supposed to protect people."

Once again, the table was quiet. Tobias was less than surprised by the Raikou's behavior after its capture, knowing as he did how little the legendaries cared for humans, but the table's other occupants seemed to consider it an enigma. The big cat was probably just furious that he had been captured and sought to rectify the situation by removing any evidence that the capture had ever taken place, mainly by destroying the one responsible. Marie still seemed convinced that Raikou's behavior was abnormal, however, and he didn't want to aggravate her further by arguing. Indeed, he was beginning to feel guilty that he had shouted at her earlier. Instead, he merely asked Professor Oak, "So, what have you found out from Raikou so far, then?"

Professor Oak sighed and shook his head ruefully. "Nothing, I'm afraid. Raikou refuses to speak with us. He's even attacked Ernello several times."

"Ernello?" Tobias asked, puzzle. He seemed to recall hearing that name before, but couldn't place it.

"He's one of my Natu," Professor Elm said. "Usually he helps with translating Pokemon speech."

Tobias nodded slowly and turned his attention to the drink that the Professors had given him earlier. It was starting to cool, and he took a sip of it experimentally. It had the sweet flavor of a berry blend, but was oddly thick and creamy. The warm drink seemed to have a soothing effect on his frazzle nerves. He frowned down at the mug in his hand, then looked up at Professor Elm questioningly. "What's this?" he asked.

"Oh, that? It's a sort of berry smoothie thing. I don't really have a name for it," the Professor said. "It's a milkshake, more or less, only hot instead of cold."

Not having any idea what a milkshake was, Tobias accepted this statement without comment. He merely sat there, sipping idly at the drink and waiting for something to happen.

No one else at the table seemed inclined to do anything. Marie was being comforted by her Combusken at her end of the table, and Professor Birch was drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair and staring out of the window. Tobias guessed that he was waiting for Jacob to return from tending to Raikou. Professor Oak was apparently ill at ease as well, toying with an odd book. Tobias couldn't recall having seen it before, but he guessed that he had just overlooked it while he was still reeling from his encounter with Raikou.

Small and nondescript, it appeared a drab gray, though closer inspection revealed that it was actually brown and leather-bound beneath an impressive coat of dust. Professor Oak was tracing designs in the thick dust with his finger, revealing the true brown cover in odd squiggly patches of clean surface.

Interest piqued, Tobias asked, "What's that, Professor?"

Professor Oak, who had been engrossed in tracing out his initials on the book's cover, started guiltily. "Oh, this?" he asked nervously. "Well, you remember how Professor Elm mentioned how he thought that he had heard of Waytar before?"

Tobias nodded slowly. Was it possible that the Professor had succeeded in finding some information on his homeland? Perhaps it would give him some indication of how to return!

"I thought that I remembered having heard of it before, too. I spent some time in the library after we talked at breakfast and dug up this old book." He brushed the remaining dust from the tome's cover, obliterating the odd geometrical shapes and random squiggles that had been inscribed on its dusty surface. "It's called_ Legends of the Pokemon World,_ and it has a rather extensive collection of tales from the legendary wars. Now, there's no real way to tell if they're true or not," he added hastily. "The book has 'legends' in the title for a reason, but I did find something on Waytar."

"Really?" Tobias asked, excited. "What is it? What'd you find?"

"Well, err, are you sure you want to hear?" Professor Oak asked cautiously.

"Yes, of course," Tobias replied, a bit put out. "Please?"

"All right. Hang on a moment," Professor Oak said reluctantly, opening the small book to a marked page. He cleared his throat and began to read. "The legendary wars were the series of devastating conflicts that arose between humans and Pokemon after the arrival of the legendary beasts. Historians generally recognize them as four distinct wars, the War of No Return, the War of Kanto, the War of Johto, and, finally, the War of Chaos. Generally, however, the conflicts are referred to as a single unit."

Professor Oak muttered something apologetic as he skimmed down the page, skipping past the more general, unimportant information on the causes and participants of the wars, the casualties, and so forth. "Ah hah!" he said at last, jabbing his finger triumphantly at the page before him. "Here we are. 'The humans relied on a large coalition of both Pokemon and human infantry to battle back against the legendary Pokemon and their vast armies of lesser creatures. There are even some accounts which document the use of the last of the human war machines during the conflicts, but such records are largely discredited, as historians agree that the technological marvels had long since been destroyed.

"'The human's most lauded general was Mayan Waytar, a wise and resourceful man. He controlled the largest contingent of human and Pokemon soldiers and commanded the battles in what is now known as the Johto region. With his help, the coalition was able to drive away the legendaries that had laid claim to the land in the area and repulsed numerous attacks by the wrathful Pokemon.'"

Tobias felt himself swelling with pride despite himself. Waytar survived in the legends of even this forsaken land, it appeared, and in all of his glory. Surely, then, it must mention the Waytaran region somewhere in the tale as well?

Professor Oak continued, "But it soon became clear that Waytar was playing a cunning game with the humans' forces. His constant heckling of the powerful creatures was in fact a mere diversion to draw their attention away from his own schemes. As he commanded the coalition forces on the battleground, he also commanded a team of handpicked humans and Pokemon who sought to establish a new region beyond the conflict areas of Johto, Kanto, and Hoenn.

"It is now believed that Waytar had no quarrel with the legendary Pokemon; indeed, he welcomed their arrival as the cleansing fire that would purge the human race of weakness and impurity. While the world suffered, he would establish his own land, a very exclusive region open only to those few he deemed pure. His true motives can never be known, of course, due to the actions which he took towards the end of the War of Johto.

"Waytar's perfect region was nearing completion, and he deemed it time to retreat there himself to nurture the cream of humanity. He did so, taking his last few disciples with him and abandoning his huge army to the fury of the legendaries. The humans, scrambling to recover from the sudden loss of their cherished commander, were hit by a surprise offensive by the legendary Pokemon. The Pokemon's determined drive forced the humans farther and farther back, and the coalition suffered defeat after defeat as they retreated in disgrace.

"It appeared to many that the legendary wars might indeed be at an end, with the legendaries the victor, but the great beasts, learning of Waytar's 'perfect region,' set out to destroy the insolent human who had caused them so much trouble. Abandoning their campaign on Johto, the last bastion of humanity, they set out to destroy this new region. Though it has never been confirmed, it is widely agreed that they probably succeeded in this aim."

Professor Oak looked up at Tobias nervously, closing the book in his hands with a sharp snap, causing a puff of dust to billow outwards from the ancient tome. "That's about the whole of it."

Tobias was once again set reeling. He wasn't alone in his feelings of confusion and surprise, however. It appeared that Professor Oak had not informed his colleagues of his discovery either, and they were all regarding him with disbelief. Professor Oak set the book on the table before him, and Professor Birch snatched it away almost before he had put it down. Flipping quickly through the pages, he frowned as he perused the section for himself, Professor Elm leaning in to read over his shoulder.

Tobias nearly groaned with frustration. The situation seemed to have taken another turn for the worse, or at least for the more confusing. It was impossible that Mayan Waytar was anything like what the book made him out to be, a scheming turncoat that had abandoned his people at their time of greatest need. After all, he was the man who had saved the human race by establishing Waytar and erecting the shield, its eternal protector. He was the hero at the center of Waytaran culture, the pinnacle of humanity towards which its residents aspired.

Then again, it was utterly impossible that Tobias be sitting here in the middle of the Professor's dining room in the middle of a land that didn't exist, surrounded by people who had been wiped out during the legendary wars, still digesting a tale of the capture of one of the creatures responsible for their demise, who couldn't possibly be in a pen outside in the yard.

For one wild moment, Tobias felt a sudden deviation from his muddled train of thought. What if he had really drowned after being thrown from the _Sea Pidgeot_? What if he was dead, and this was the afterlife or…or…something, and nobody here had ever heard of Waytar because it didn't exist here, and the legendary wars had actually been won by the humans, as Professor Oak's history book seemed to imply? He shook his head to try to drive off that ridiculous thought, and settled back on the problem at hand.

On one side stood nearly all of his eleven years, during which it had been repeatedly drummed into his head that Waytar was all that was left, that its savior had been a great among men. On the other, the strange revelations of the past few days that begged to differ. Who was he to believe?


	22. Evolution

Author's Notes: I'm going to be going away on vacation tonight, so this'll be the last chapter that you see for about a week. I hope you like it; it's a bit long, but I wanted to get to a certain point in it.

There's a lot that I'm hiding, PNEK MEKS. Well, not really, to be truthful, you're reading this story out of context/order, so it's not really hidden, just hasn't been written yet…yeah, but yes, I guess so.

And that's a very good idea, Yellowspottedlizard, Tobias _should _have Accemenla talk to Raikou.

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Evolution**

"So," Tobias sighed at last, "I guess that I'd better go see if I can round up Jinx and Chevron."

"Hmm? Oh, yes, that would probably be wise," said Professor Elm, looking up from the small book that was still clutched in Professor Birch's large hands. "I'm afraid that I completely forgot about them."

"I'll come with you," Marie offered shyly. "I guess that I did sort of promise you a battle, after all, and we won't be able to have one if you don't have any Pokemon."

Tobias could always use Accemenla, of course, but he doubted that the Tarsix would thank him for letting her out to fight beneath the strange sun. The two humans and Combusken returned once more to the large yard and began their search, Marie releasing Sentret, who had been resting in his Pokeball after a run-in with a lab Persian. The scout Pokemon loped ahead of the humans, raising himself up on his tail to get a better look around.

Chevron proved fairly easy to find. The Zigzagoon had discovered that there were relatively few treasures to be found in the large lab yard, as most of the interesting items had already been snapped up by local Pokemon and stashed away. Growing bored of roaming around without anything exciting to show for it, he trotted up to Tobias as soon as he caught the boy's scent. Tobias, not wanting to lose track of him again, returned him to his chime before setting off in search of his starter.

Jinx proved a bit harder to locate. There were numerous other Murkrow that regularly visited the lab grounds, most of which weren't permanent residents but rather drifted by now and again for the free food and companionship. Consequently, the wooded areas were full of the nearly identical black-feathered birds. Tobias and Marie ended up barking up several wrong trees before at last coming across Jinx.

"Hey, there's one! I think that might be him!" Tobias cried excitedly, pointing up at a Murkrow sitting on a bough overhead, casually preening a sooty wing. "Jinx! Hey, Jinx! It's time to go, okay? Come on down," Tobias implored, waving up to it.

The Murkrow removed its head from its wing and stared down at Tobias before irritably turning around on the branch so that its back faced the guide and starting in on its other wing.

"Nope, that's not him, either," Tobias sighed. "Well, at least I hope it's not."

"Say, there's another one over there," Marie pointed out. "He looks pretty strong, maybe human-trained…"

The Murkrow in question cried "Krowwowww!" and took off from the branch, flapping away to a quieter section of forest.

"Guess not," Marie sighed.

"Oh, there he is!" Tobias said excitedly, pointing up ahead. Marie looked as directed and found herself gazing upon a raucous trio of Murkrow, all of whom were jabbering back and forth amiably. The threesome seemed to find their conversation incredibly amusing; the nonsensical babbles that they emitted were regularly interrupted by loud fits of cackling laughter.

"Ummm…which one?" Marie asked.

"Far right," Tobias said with conviction. He approached the tree upon whose bough the three Murkrow were perched. Marie was at a loss as to how he could pick Jinx out from his brethren, particularly after he had managed to mistake other Murkrow for him so many times already. "Jinx?" Tobias called up to the three Murkrow, addressing the one on the far right.

The conversation ground to an abrupt halt. All three Murkrow leaned out from the branch inquisitively, peering down at Tobias with interest. The one on the far right then muttered something quietly to its comrades, and they erupted into fits of loud mirth.

Tobias flushed slightly, though it was difficult to tell beneath his still-impressive sunburn. "Hey, Jinx, that's not nice. Come on, I haven't got all day."

The Murkrow that Tobias had correctly identified as Jinx bid his comrades farewell and leapt from the branch, fluttering down to land on Tobias's head. Tobias smiled as he turned away from the tree and began walking back towards Marie. "You know, Jinx, if I didn't know better, I'd almost have thought that you were _scared _of that big, bad Raikou," Tobias teased his Pokemon. "I mean, the way that you flew off of that fence like there was a hundred angry Tauros stampeding after you-"

Jinx squawked something indignant. Tobias took it to mean that the Murkrow was surprised that he could think such a thing. After all, it was Tobias who had run, and Jinx had just decided that when the Raikou roared it had been a particularly fine time to suddenly go and visit some of his brethren halfway across the yard.

Tobias smiled. "Well, whatever. Think you'd like a battle?"

Of course he would; it had been over a week since Jinx had last had a good fight. "Krowww! Mur krowow murkrow!" he crowed fiercely.

"All right, then," Marie said with a small smile. "Why don't we head back out to the plains area? It's a better place to have a battle than in here with all of these trees around. Is a two-Pokemon match okay?"

"Sure," Tobias agreed, following Marie out of the forest. He would use Chevron first, then Jinx. Hopefully Chevron would evolve, as the constant itchiness that resulted from being on the verge of evolution was probably beginning to drive the Zigzagoon mad.

Finding a suitable patch of open grassland, Marie took up a battle position, Tobias walking across the field to stand oppposite her. "Go, Sentret," she commanded, directing the squirrel-like creature forward. He bounded into the arena, rising up on his tail and glaring determinedly at Tobias.

Tobias called, "Go, Chevron!" ringing his chime firmly. Chevron materialized rapidly, apparently eager to fight as well. "Let's start with headbutt, Chevron," Tobias decided. He recalled Chevron's previous encounter with a Sentret and winced. Hopefully this fight would turn out better for his Pokemon. Chevron nodded and rushed forward, head lowered.

Marie smiled. "Get ready, Sentret. You know what to do." Sentret chirped and steeled himself for the attack, lowering his feet back onto the ground and spreading his stubby arms wide as though prepared to take the headbutt straight on.

Chevron, seeing this, increased his speed as much as he could, intending to bowl Sentret over and out of his way. At the last moment, however, Sentret leapt up onto his tail. Chevron didn't have time to change course and rammed into it with considerable force, knocking it out from under the scout Pokemon.

At first Tobias didn't really see the point to this maneuver. After all, Sentret still got knocked over, didn't he? And indeed he did-falling forward onto Chevron's back. Sentret wrapped his tail around Chevron's neck to steady himself and employed his small claws in a frenzied fury swipes.

Chevron yelped and whirled around, snapping at the clinging Sentret. He couldn't reach him, however, and snarled as his opponent's claws bit deep. "Quick, Chevron, roll to get it off of you!" Tobias urged. This battle had not begun well. Marie was a pretty good guide, he decided.

Chevron obeyed but Sentret, hearing the opposing trainer's command as well, disembarked before he could become crushed by the Zigzagoon's maneuver. He bounded away and smirked at the bloodied Chevron, awaiting further orders.

"Good job, Sentret," Marie encouraged. "Now, quick attack!"

Chevron was struggling back to his feet determinedly, but the lighting-fast Sentret slammed into his body just as he rose back onto his four paws, sending him sprawling away again.

"Excellent work! Now, quick attack again!" Marie repeated, pressing her advantage.

"Chevron, use sand attack," Tobias ordered, hoping that he could bring the attack up short. His Zigzagoon frantically beat his spiny tail against the ground, trying to whip up some dirt with it as he hadn't been able to right himself enough to use his paws. The grassy ground yielded no such grit, but the attack did lob one unfortunate grasshopper and into the face of the onrushing Sentret.

The bug smacked Sentret in the forehead, and the confused Pokemon skidded to a halt, unnerved by the unusual missile. What sort of attack was that? Grasshopper throw?

Seeing his opponent momentarily distracted, Chevron surged back to his feet and lunged at Sentret.

"Defense curl," Marie ordered calmly. Sentret rolled himself into a ball, curling his long tail over his head, and allowed himself to be tossed into the air. He rolled to a halt several feet away, Chevron in hot pursuit.

"Get him, Chevron," Tobias encouraged. "Headbutt!"

"Quick attack," Marie countered. Sentret popped out of a ball, digging his hind feet into the ground with the momentum that he had built up during his roll, then springing forward at an astonishing rate, straight at Chevron.

The two Pokemon collided. Chevron reeled away, shaking his smarting head. Sentret seemed little better, spread-eagled on the trampled grass. He raised himself slowly, one small paw rubbing the dome of his skull gingerly.

"Tackle," Marie said, not wasting any time before engaging her opponent. Sentret sprang back into action.

"Tail whip," Tobias said.

Chevron lashed Sentret across his face with his bushy tail and was rewarded with only a glancing hit from the tackle attack. He chased after the Sentret as it stumbled past after the impact, leaping at him. The two engaged each other at close range, the fight becoming a whirlwind of snapping teeth and gleaming claws.

When the two fighters pulled away from each other, they looked considerably worse. Chevron was bleeding from a nasty cut on his left cheek and Sentret had several bites standing out amongst his chestnut fur. "Quick attack," Marie commanded relentlessly.

Tobias was impressed. This was turning out to be quite the battle. "Chevron, tail whip again…Chevron?"

Chevron was shuddering violently as though he might be ill. His fur seemed to spark oddly, almost like Raikou's fur had done earlier that day. Bright flashes of light coursed across his small frame, before the glow suddenly spread to completely engulf his body. Sentret aborted his charge and backed away warily.

Chevron's short, tubby body lengthened and grew sleeker, his spiky coat smoothing out into a more streamlined shape. Two of his claws on each foot lengthened into sharp, tearing weapons. The light of evolution slowly ebbed away and Chevron drew himself up onto his haunches, towering over Sentret. Residual sparks of energy snapped across his form as he let out a low growl. "Linoooone."

"Wow, Chevron," Tobias gasped, unsure of what to say. "Are you…are you all right?"

The Linoone turned his now-blue eyes upon his guide and nodded curtly. "Oon. Linoone."

"All right, well…use headbutt," Tobias tried. He eagerly watched as his new Linoone surged across the field, his head connecting firmly with the stunned Sentret's stomach ring. The smaller rodent went flying backwards, and Chevron set off in hot pursuit.

"Use defense curl, Sentret," Marie called, apparently at a loss as to what to do against her now much more powerful opponent. Sentret obliged, drawing in upon himself once more.

Repeated headbutt attacks sent the balled-up Sentret whizzing back and forth across the field. Still the scout Pokemon did not uncurl, nor did Marie give any other orders. Soon it became apparent that she had in fact a very good idea of how to fight against newly-evolved Pokemon.

The adrenaline rush associated with the ascendance to his next form was beginning to wear off, and Chevron was flagging. His body was succumbing to the stress of evolution, his enhanced muscles screaming with fatigue and overwork, his nervous system straining to send all of the commands required to run the Linoone's more complex anatomy. As the Sentret rolled along the ground, taking relatively little damage from Chevron's fierce attacks, the Linoone was being defeated from the inside out. No amount of tackling, biting or scratching could force the persistent Sentret to unroll, and Chevron at last collapsed out of exhaustion. Surprised, Tobias recalled him.

"You're up then, Jinx," he observed with a sigh. He had always thought that evolution would almost guarantee a win-after all, your Pokemon suddenly increased in power and gained new abilities. Apparently he hadn't stopped to think about the costs associated with the transformation.

Jinx, who had been watching the battle avidly, muttering appreciatively as Chevron evolved, hopped into the arena. He, on the other hand, had expected the Linoone to give in to fatigue after evolution and had been preparing for this fight. Without even waiting for a command from Tobias, he lunged forward, hitting the uncurling Sentret with his beak.

Sentret, too, was feeling quite strained. He squeaked angrily as Jinx set upon him but could do little to defend himself, managing only a few half-hearted scratches before being recalled. Marie ordered Combusken into the ring, and the two starter Pokemon faced off.

Combusken, feeling confident, clucked tauntingly at Jinx. The Murkrow pretended not to notice, feigning nonchalance as he extended a sooty wing to preen. Red eyes peered across at his opponent from around the appendage, however.

"Combusken, let's get this started with focus energy," Marie suggested. Combusken closed his eyes and folded his long arms before him, going into some sort of meditative trance.

"Astonish, Jinx," Tobias said with a grin.

Jinx obliged, hopping towards the Combusken silently. Tendrils of flame had begun to dance around the Combusken's body as he drew upon his inner fire power. Jinx stopped some foot away from him, gave a small, throat-clearing cough, and then gave a terribly loud screech, leaping straight at the Combusken's face.

The chicken's eyes flew open with shock and it stumbled backwards, flaming tendrils dissipating as he lost concentration. Jinx followed up with a series of vicious peck attacks.

"Combusken, ember," Marie ordered. Regaining some of his composure, Combusken blew a series of glowing coals at Jinx. The Murkrow cawed angrily and withdrew as the burning shards struck him. He leapt into the air and circled upward, preparing to dive upon his enemy.

"Peck, Jinx," Tobias said excitedly.

"Be ready, Combusken," Marie said quietly, eyeing the flying Murkrow nervously.

Jinx went into a steep dive, swooping down at the Combusken. "Double kick, now!" Marie shouted. Combusken swung a foot up to connect with the plummeting bird, striking Jinx's black body even as his beak gouged a deep gash along Combusken's leg.

Jinx was sent flying, thudding to earth a good distance away. Combusken went down, clutching his leg. Blood welled between his clawed fingers, and Marie recalled him immediately. Tobias hurried over to Jinx, who hadn't gotten up. The point-blank kick had no doubt done a great deal of damage to the Murkrow. Jinx barely responded to Tobias's arrival, opening one red eye at his approach. Tobias recalled him uncomfortably, hoping that the lab had good healing facilities.

"Good battle," Marie remarked as she walked up to him.

"Yeah," Tobias replied. "Sorry about that last attack there. I hope Combusken's all right."

Marie nodded. "I'm sure he'll be fine. That last double kick looked like it did a number on Jinx, too."

Tobias nodded. "Yeah. So, I guess it was a tie?"

"More or less," Marie agreed. "Come on, I'll show you where the lab's hospital area is."

As he followed Marie back to the lab building, Tobias couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Chevron had once again lost to a Sentret, despite his evolution, and Tobias had tied a battle against a girl that had only been training for a couple of weeks. Of course, he himself had only been training for that long, but he hadn't won a battle in a long time. In fact, he'd lost the one before this. He frowned. Clearly, he needed to work harder.

One of Professor Elm's numerous assistants, a nurse-in-training, was working in the hospital area as the pair entered the room. Though considerably smaller than the extensive healing facilities sported by fully-fledged Pokemon centers, it was still quite large.

The nurse herself was currently only half-visible, her upper body wedged beneath a large machine. Scattered tools lay about the area around the machine. As Tobias and Marie walked over to her, a hand poked out from underneath the machine. Feeling around its side, it found the large power switch near the back and pressed it.

Tobias and Marie stopped, a bit daunted, as the machine started up with a rumble and hummed noisily as lights flickered across the viewscreens at the top. The hum suddenly escalated into a keening whine, only to be cut off by a loud popping noise. An unladylike curse emanated from beneath it, and the nurse's hand now reached for a very large wrench.

"Umm….excuse me?" Marie asked uncertainly.

The nurse stopped what she was doing and slid out from underneath the machine. Her upper body was soaked with sweat and grease, and she was obviously in a foul mood. "What?" she growled. "I'm sort of busy right now."

"We'd like to have our Pokemon healed, please," Marie said, holding her Pokeballs out to the nurse. "They've just been in a big battle and are pretty hurt.

The nurse accepted the Pokeballs. "It'll be a few hours," she snapped. "As you can see, our healing machine's not being very cooperative right now."

"That's okay," Marie said hastily, clearly not wanting to provoke the nurse further by demanding faster treatment. Tobias held his two chimes out to the nurse.

"What the hell are these?" she grumbled, taking them away from him.

"They've got my Pokemon in them," Tobias explained. "We don't have Pokeballs where I come from."

"That a fact?" the nurse asked, sounding mildly interested. Her manner quickly slipped back into grudging cooperation, however. "Well, these'll be even longer. I'm going to have to fix 'em up by hand, because even when the healer gets back online there's no way it's going to work on these things."

Tobias muttered a vague thanks and reassurance that he would be glad to wait, and he and Marie left the nurse to herself. She kicked moodily at the metal front of the healing machine as they departed, only to wince as her foot struck it with a bit more force than she had intended.

The rest of the day passed without incident. Marie showed Tobias some of the other interesting areas in Professor Elm's lab, including its extensive library and the nursery where the newly-hatched Pokemon that Professor Elm bred as starters for new trainers resided. The nurse appeared just before dinner to return Marie's Pokeballs to her and to tell Tobias that she was still working on his Pokemon. Dinner itself was a fairly relaxed, quiet affair, the Professors apparently relieved to see that Tobias had gotten over his scare earlier in the day and that he was taking the news that the hero of his region might not be so heroic rather well.

Tobias, however, was far from through with the issue. After dinner, he returned to his room and released Accemenla. She stretched and yawned, glancing out the window at the setting sun, then around the room suspiciously.

_Where's the bird? _she asked suddenly.

"What, you mean Jinx?" Tobias asked, surprised. "He's getting healed right now. He was in a battle earlier today.

Accemenla appeared less than pleased that the Murkrow had been given an opportunity to battle while she hadn't and lapsed into jealous silence. At last she announced, _Well, I hope it was painful._

"Accemenla!" Tobias cried, shocked.

_What? _she snapped irritably. _Anyway, let me guess, you're letting me out early to tell me that something else crazy is going on in this insane place._

"Yes, more or less," Tobias admitted.

_Let's hear it, then, and get it over with, _Accemenla sighed, climbing up to sit next to him on the bed.

Tobias recounted all that he had learned that day, recounting Marie's tale of Raikou's capture and the information from Professor Oak's book. This last seemed particularly shocking to the Tarsix. Her ears stood straight up and she narrowed her eyes dangerously.

_Preposterous, _she announced as Tobias concluded his story. _Everyone knows that Waytar was one of the greatest men to ever live._

"I'm not so sure…" Tobias sighed. "I just don't know what to think."

_Well, _I'm _sure, _Accemenla snapped. _So was that it? It's an interesting tale, I'll grant the girl that, but any fool could have told her that capturing a legendary is a death wish. And as I said, the book's "legend" is just ridiculous propaganda, spread by the weaklings in this region to make themselves look better. Is there something else that you wanted me for?_

"Actually, yes," Tobias said. "I want you to come with me so I can talk to Raikou."

There was dead silence for a moment, Accemenla staring up at Tobias. _What! Why? _she cried.

"Because I want to hear what he has to say for himself," Tobias replied simply. "He probably knows a lot more about this mess than we do."

_You said yourself that he wasn't talking to the Professor's Pokemon, _Accemenla pointed out. _What makes you think that I can get through to him?_

"We have to try," Tobias said firmly.

_Oh, all right, _Accemenla sighed. _You are my guide, however misguided you actually are. _She leapt nimbly onto his back and clung there as he left the room, headed outside. By now the sky had darkened and the first of the strange lights shone in the clear night sky. Tobias was dismayed to find that the grounds looked a great deal different than they had in the daytime. He became thoroughly lost, wandering aimlessly in the large yard.

_Say, who's that guy? _Accemenla asked abruptly, reaching a clawed finger over Tobias's shoulder to point up to the crest of a nearby hill. There, a lone figure was bent over some sort of device. A slim, elongated cylinder, it was propped up by three spindly legs. If Tobias hadn't known better, he would have said that it was one of the farseeing devices used by sailors and the like to get a good look at distant objects, but that couldn't be it-it was pointed at the sky. The figure leaning over it seemed to be peering into one end, straightening up now and again to write something on a notepad and adjusting the angle of the device.

"I don't know," Tobias replied honestly. He started towards the person, prepared to hail them, but stopped when a Pokemon fluttered off of the silhouette's shoulder. Its batlike profile was jarringly familiar, and he halted in his tracks. "Oh, no," he muttered, "It's Jacob. But…what's he doing?"

Tobias watched for a few moments longer before finally giving up and trudging off once more. At last he and Accemenla stumbled upon the fenced-in enclosure purely by chance. "Here we are," Tobias whispered, not quite sure why he was lowering his voice. Accemenla leaped onto the fence, scaling it with ease. Reaching its top, she peered down into it with her keen eyes.

_He's asleep, _she reported.

"Wake him up, then," Tobias hissed.

Accemenla gave no answer, but there was suddenly and indignant snarl from behind the bars of the cage. Tobias winced; he didn't particularly want anyone to know that he was out here, least of all Jacob, who would certainly hear any sort of rumbling thunder from the cage.

"Is there any way that you can keep him quiet?" Tobias asked Accemenla as the enraged Raikou, smelling the boy and Pokemon, began dashing over to their side of the enclosure.

_Easy, _Accemenla replied smugly. _I'll just contain the sound waves he puts out to a small radius, shall I? _

"Erm, okay," Tobias replied, not completely understanding but willing to trust the Tarsix. He turned his attention to Raikou, who had recognized him from earlier. Roaring, the Pokemon threw himself forward, sending jags of lighting at Tobias. The tang of ozone filled the air and bolt after bolt struck the inner fence. Raikou slammed into it with all of his might, the wire bellying out before him. He ignored the barbs that dug into his skin, causing blood to trickle from several small scratches, and snarled menacingly whilst sending cascades of electric sparks at the fence now pressed up against his body, hoping to overload it. Tobias was once again in awe of the Pokemon's majesty, its sheer power. Terror returned to him, but he beat it down grimly, forcing himself to stay put and stare into the face of the angry legendary.

Abruptly, Raikou stopped pushing on the fence, turning casually away from it and sauntering back towards the middle of his cage as though he had forgotten the boy's existence. His jagged tail flicked casually as he walked away.

Fury quickly replaced terror as Tobias realized that the legendary was ignoring him, having lost interest now that he knew he couldn't reach the guide. Without thinking, he bent down and felt across the shadowy ground in front of him. His fingers closed over a good-sized stone. Snatching it up, Tobias lobbed it through the bars and at Raikou. His aim was true, and it struck the yellow tiger's back audibly.

That got Raikou's attention. Whirling back around, the legendary once again threw himself at Tobias. _Nice shot, _Accemenla told Tobias, telepathic speech cutting through Raikou's frenzied snarls.

"What's he saying?" Tobias asked, glaring coldly at the struggling Raikou.

_Very rude stuff, for the most part, _Accemenla reported.

Tobias stepped nearer, pressing his face against the bars. "Listen to me, you great beast. I don't like you and you don't like me, but you are going to speak to me, even if I have to stand here and throw rocks at you all night."

Raikou gave a few more half-hearted lunges at the fence before stopping and staring sullenly back through the bars. He growled something low and menacing, but didn't retreat again, able to smell the human's determination and resolve.

_He says you're a fool, _Accemenla said cheerfully.

Well, at least it was some sort of response. "Why did you try to kill me?" Tobias asked the legendary.

Raikou was silent, then at last snarled something disdainful.

_You smelled wrong, _Accemenla translated. _Old and foreign. Like _them.

"Them?" Tobias wondered aloud, looking up at Accemenla.

_You got me. I'm just sayin' what he says, _the Tarsix replied irritably.

"Who are they?" Tobias asked Raikou.

The big beast remained silent. _He's not telling, _Accemenla observed.

"Tell me!" Tobias hissed angrily. Raikou rumbled low in his throat.

Raikou says that you can stand there and chuck stuff at him all night, but he'll never tell you. He says you should already know.

Fuming, Tobias was silent for a minute. He decided to move on and ask another question. "Why did all of those Skarmory attack you?" he asked finally.

Raikou hissed and spat, the fur along his spine bristling.

_That's none of your business, _Accemenla said.

Tobias ground his teeth. This was getting him nowhere. He might as well go ahead and ask the question that he had been really meaning to ask. "Where is Waytar?"

Raikou appeared stunned, unable to respond at first. He then muttered something low and grudging.

_He honestly doesn't know, _Accemenla said gleefully. _No one can find it. _

This both heartened and disappointed Tobias. On the one hand, it meant that Waytar was probably safe from all of the turmoil sweeping across Johto. On the other, it did nothing to help him get back. "Did you know Mayan Waytar?" he asked before he could stop himself.

Again, Raikou was surprised by the question. When he did respond, it was again in a low and irritable tone.

_No, he's one of the newest legendaries, created since the wars. He never met Waytar, though he's heard of the coward._

Tobias bristled angrily. "He's not a coward! He saved us all! Without him, humanity would have been crushed by you heartless brutes!" he shouted.

Accemenla didn't have to translate what happened next. Raikou threw back his head and laughed, a crackling, sparking bark of bitter merriment that aroused further unease in Tobias's heart. He then began to talk very quickly, snapping and growling in an undertone. Accemenla struggled to keep up.

_Is that so? You're an even greater fool than I thought. No, it's us that you should thank, little human. We were the only ones that could protect you then-and we're your only hope now. You think your puny island is safe? No one in this world is safe. Waytar was incredibly misguided, even for a human. You would do well not to take after him._

"You were right, Accemenla," Tobias said coldly, trying to keep his voice from shaking, "I should have known that we wouldn't get anything sensible out of this brute."

Accemenla leapt down from the fence, landing next to him with a thud. She clambered up onto his back, and Tobias began to walk dignifiedly away from the pen. Behind him, Raikou chuckled and added something else. Accemenla, perhaps merely out of habit, translated it.

_Run and hide behind your little shield, human. It won't save you. Oh, no, it won't save you from him._

Tobias broke into an involuntary run, surprised to find himself almost on the verge of tears. Why couldn't the world just go back to making sense like it had before he left on his journey? Somehow, his great adventure had become a great nightmare. He vowed to himself, as he dashed across the swamp in front of Raikou's cage, that he would make it home. No matter what it took, he would get back to Waytar. Perhaps then he could finally find the truth.


	23. Reflections

Author's Notes: Well, I'm back.

As to how to pronounce Accemenla, I was wondering when someone was going to ask this. The double C's make a "ch" sound. So it's pronounced basically ah-ch-men-la, MidnightPhoenix.

There are pictures of the new Pokemon. Windiedragon has them up on a webpage of hers. Just click on her name in the reviews section, then on the link in her user lookup. They're quite nice.

Yes, Facia, I was originally going to have Chevron beat up Sentret after evolution, but I realized I didn't like it. I don't like the "evolution wins battle" mechanic because it doesn't seem very logical to me. Anyway, I'd say that none of the three parties involved (legendaries, Johtoans, and waytarans) know all of the truth. I'm afraid I don't really understand your last question. The Legendary wars were fought between humans and the legendary Pokemon. Raikou, who was created during the Burned Tower incident, was not around at the time, and therefore not involved. If you're asking who was involved, Rayquaza, Latias, Latios, Groudon, Kyogre, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres were the main fighters for the Pokemon side. All other legends remained neutral or did not fight for some other reason (some of the reasons are really weird, like the Regis). The legendary wars are debunked a bit more later. The wars are a very complex, subject, though, and once again, neither the victors nor the losers know the whole story.

Whew, long Author's Notes. Oh, and this is about the midpoint of the 'fic. Strap yourselves in, folks, because we're about to make a serious time jump…

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Reflections**

That had been three years ago.

Tobias heaved a sigh and tried to settle himself more comfortably against the log that he had propped himself up upon. The fire before him danced merrily, throwing shifting patches of light and shadow across the clearing and the small band gathered within it.

Chevron lay directly opposite Tobias, stretched out to his full length on the bare earth. His half-closed blue eyes reflected the twining flames as he stared sleepily into their heart. Igneous sat to his right, watching the fire intently. The Magmar's own flame-patterned body cast a soft reddish glow, and he would occasionally reach out a flame-resistant hand to add fuel to the fire or rearrange the logs ablaze within it, tending to the conflagration like some bizarre, duck-billed farmer.

Accemenla sat just outside the fire's light, a hunched figure silhouetted against the outlying trees. Her tail swished back and forth moodily as she peered out into the darkened forest, sulking as she contemplated the prospect of spending another night on the ground with her guide.

For his part, Tobias lay stretched out across the bare earth of the fire circle, head pillowed on a half-rotten log. Huddled in a sleeping bag and warmed by the fire, he could still feel the autumn chill already stinging the air. Jinx was perched next to his head, already asleep.

The small band was quiet, the peaceful silence broken only by the contented crackling of the fire and the occasional grate of metal on metal from the forest beyond as a slumbering Skarmory changed position.

A pensive mood had descended upon Tobias as his mind wandered back over his experiences throughout the past three years. Now fourteen, his childlike innocence and naïveté were slowly ebbing away, the cynicism of adulthood beginning to creep in to take their place. Likewise, his optimism was dwindling. Three years and here he was, still stuck in Johto beneath a starry night sky.

Tobias irritably shifted in his sleeping bag. What seemed like a very large, pointy boulder was digging into his spine but, as he had discovered through numerous rearrangements of his position, there seemed to be no rock-free area in the bare clearing. He irritably sat up and fished around with one hand to try to locate the object and remove it.

As he at last discovered the rock and hurled it irritably away, Tobias wondered exactly what it had been that he had resolved that night so long ago. Ah, yes. To return to Waytar and discover the truth, wasn't it? And he had certainly tried.

The effort had seemed promising in the beginning. All three Professors had been only too glad to help him, being themselves extremely interested in Waytar and hoping that, should Tobias be able to return there, they could use him to discover more of its secrets. Search parties of flying Pokemon had been assembled and sent out across the trackless western ocean, searching for a world none knew existed. All returned empty handed. The new satellite surveillance system developed by the scientists at the Hoenn Space Center had been focused upon finding the new continent, but to no avail. Tobias himself had even journeyed several times out to sea, borrowing a suitable aquatic Pokemon and setting out across the waves to see if he could somehow sense the location of his homeland. He had found nothing unusual on such trips, save for one very irate Gyrados that seemed intent on killing him for some reason. Tobias had made sure not to venture into its territory after their first encounter.

Slowly, search attempts had petered off. Tobias found himself slipping into the routine of Johto life despite himself. He had even joined the Johto league, longing for something to take his mind off of the powerless sense of loss that he gained from looking over yet another stack of reports spelling out no results, no hope, no reason to keep searching. Three badges later, he could almost see himself on the path that so many trainers had trodden before.

Tobias smiled ruefully as he settled back against his log, only barely drifting above the boundary of sleep. That was it, wasn't it? A trainer like all of the others. Oh, sure, he had Accemenla, a few chimes, and bizarre skin that would burn if exposed to sunlight for more than five minutes unprotected, but surely he was no more notable or unusual than some legendary capturer or owner of a shiny Pokemon. He was just a face in the crowd, one amongst millions worldwide. Nothing special, nothing terribly out of the ordinary. Safe.

Back to the way it was in the land where all people look basically the same. Back to the time before he'd gotten a Murkrow for a starter and seen his bright future shot to hell. Whether he liked to admit it or not, Johto had become more of a home to him than home had. It was comfortable to be one of the many again, to be swept along by your predecessors and pushed along by the throng coming up behind, never really having to forge your own path.

But as he at last succumbed to slumber, he couldn't help but feel saddened by this, somehow.

-

Once he was sure that his guide was asleep, Jinx withdrew his head from under his wing, all appearance of sleep gone without a trace. He shifted back and forth nervously, feeling discomforted by the puzzling situation.

Tobias was unhappy. Even Jinx wasn't inept enough at judging emotion to miss it. And what's more, Jinx felt unhappy as a result. Not because he really had any sort of feeling for the boy, of course, but because it meant that he wouldn't live as well as a result. He'd noticed that unhappy humans had a greatly reduced tendency to give treats.

And the thing that would make Tobias happy would be to go home. Jinx felt that this would be a good idea. Not because he had any sort of feeling for the place, of course, but because he was tired of staring Skarmory in the face dawn to dusk and because it would make Tobias happy. Not that he was scared of the metal chickens, of course. They were just mildly annoying and appeared in impolitely large numbers.

How to get home, though? Jinx knew how. Tobias and he could go through the shield, for whatever reason. He even knew what direction to fly, more or less where he had to go in order to reach Waytar again. But doing so meant that he'd have to fly through Lokalor's territory. The Gyrados apparently had a larger brain than Jinx had assumed because he'd remembered Tobias and his rather handsome companion and gotten a bit hot under the collar when they unwittingly wandered into his territory a few months ago. Not that Jinx was scared of the grouchy Pokemon, of course, but dealing with such a nuisance would be tiresome.

Tiresome. That was the bottom line. Waytar lay somewhere vaguely northwest from their current position, and Jinx just didn't have the flight capacity to spend the time looking for it, much less carry Tobias with him. If they were to make it back, they'd need to know exactly where it was and find some method of transportation that, like Alsokaran, could pass through the shield. Relying on the other Pokemon to find Waytar would be useless, as they didn't know what to look for. While the World's Teeth were visible this side of the shield, he seriously doubted that any of those woefully inferior search parties would have guessed that they marked the boundary of an invisible continent.

But there _was_ someone who could find Waytar for them, who would be able to spot it from a great distance away. Jinx's red eyes focused on the Pokemon sitting across the clearing, back turned to him. He could just ask her for help. He'd rather die.

The situation, therefore, stood thus: find continent, make guide happy. Ask Accemenla, find continent. Ask Accemenla, debase oneself before one's greatest enemy. What to do?

For now, nothing. Jinx settled himself down, clawed feet digging into the rotten bark beneath him. It wouldn't do to lose sleep over such a matter, one that could be dealt with in the morning. Jinx, the master of mental censorship, pushed the matter firmly from his mind and fell into the restful slumber reserved for the innocent and utterly blameless.

-

The day dawned weak and half-hearted, the sky overhead the watery, weary blue of fall turning to winter. The raucous shrieks and cacophony of metal pinions rattling filled the forest, the Skarmory within it wakening in good humor, as always.

Tobias shot the ones that he could see regular dirty looks as he stirred the oatmeal that he was heating over the small fire. The metal birds were an annoyance to people everywhere, nowadays.

Or perhaps more than an annoyance. For some strange reason, the Skarmory population had grown at an incredible rate, nearly doubling each year for the past four. Not only that, but the newest generation seemed far removed from its predecessors. Its members were larger, stronger, more intelligent, and above all, more aggressive than those that established trainers were used to. They took over the forests of all of the regions, driving away native bird species. The Skarmory would sometimes attack roving trainers for no apparent reason. Trainer fatalities had risen sharply over the past years in accordance with the Skarmory population explosion, and there was even talk of raising the legal training age minimum of Johto, which was currently ten. The idea was that older boys and girls would be more mature and less likely to provoke the metal birds into attacking.

Tobias ladled out some of the oatmeal into a small metal bowl. This he presented to Accemenla, who squinted grumpily at it and snatched it from his hand thanklessly. The Skarmory were the source of her woes as well. They made the forests too dangerous for nighttime hunting, forcing Accemenla to join her companions for daylight meals.

One by one, Tobias saw to it that all of his Pokemon were fed. Only Igneous was allowed to wander off by himself, returning with an armload of berries that his guide and companions gratefully used to add a bit of flavor to their bland, mushy breakfast. The main reason that Tobias had caught the Magmar was for his fire-type abilities. Almost every single trainer nowadays carried with them a powerful fire- or electric-type, the two elements that worked best against Skarmory. From what little he had heard of the beginning trainer scene, the starters chosen nowadays were almost exclusively fire-type, causing an unusual surplus of the usually rare grass- and water-type choices. Established trainers were now flocking to the two Safari Zones in Hoenn and Kanto, as the Leagues had authorized controlled releases of the three Leagues' official grass and water starters into these semi-wild preserves, making the exclusively bred in captivity creatures suddenly available to established trainers via capture.

Tobias himself wasn't interested. Now that the League's off-season had arrived, he had been exploring the more remote areas of Johto in hopes of finding some clue from the region's troubled past.

So far, none had presented itself. Johto was a land that some said was still living in the past, with its ancient ruins and historical structures, but much was hidden beneath the surface that was determined to remain hidden. Tobias collected the empty bowls from his Pokemon and, accompanied by Igneous, paid a visit to a nearby stream to wash them, all the way trying to ignore the watchful metal Pokemon crowding the branches above him.

"I'm going to take a walk along the beach today, Igneous," Tobias told his Pokemon.

"Maagg," Igneous groaned. He hated the ocean, with its blowing spray and damp sand.

"That's okay, you can stay in your ball," Tobias chuckled.

The Magmar nodded appreciatively and returned to idly plucking strands of grass from the ground around him and, holding them in an open palm and raising his body temperature just enough to set them alight. He stood well away from the small stream that Tobias was using to wash the dishes. He and his Pokemon had made camp at the same spot for about a week now, as it was an ideal area, with abundant fresh water for washing and drinking.

Tobias finished the chore and returned to camp, informing the rest of his Pokemon of the day's plans. Accemenla had already returned to her chime, but Jinx and Chevron both seemed to approve of the idea. Recalling Igneous, Tobias and his two Pokemon companions set off for the beach.

Chevron loped beside Tobias with easy, rolling undulations of his low-slung body. Though still as adventurous as he had been as a Zigzagoon, Chevron was now less easily distracted by the mundane wonders that lay in the world around him. Occasionally, he would joggle off into the undergrowth to investigate something, making precise ninety degree turns as he zigged and zagged back and forth across the ground. He rarely returned his finds to Tobias, doing so only if he considered them to be useful or worthy of his guide's time. Though Tobias was grateful that he was no longer deluged by gifts of unusually shaped sticks or pretty rocks, he occasionally missed the constant presents that he had received from his Zigzagoon.

The beach was rather unimpressive, a narrow band of coarse sand littered with flotsam and the occasional slick rock. You never knew what might have washed up, however, and Tobias scanned the tangled clumps of seaweed and tangled old fishing nets that covered the beach with interest. Ocean currents carried unusual items from around the world to this beach, storms constantly churning up new secrets long lost. He'd found all manner of interesting items here, including everything from unusual fishing lures to a balance badge that some poor trainer must have lost overboard while out at sea. Tobias searched for anything that might have come from Waytar, a broken chime, a certification medal, a coin or two. Anything that might show him that other items had managed to escape from the continent, anything that might somehow show him the way home.

The chill ocean breeze whipped across the open beach, the shrill cries of Wingull sounding over the melancholy sigh of the waves that crawled up onto the sand before at last giving up and sliding back into the ocean. Tobias thought the dispirited weather suited his mood perfectly as he settled down to another day of searching for a place that seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth.

-

Jinx loved the beach. All manner of shiny objects littered its sandy surface, from old discarded bottle caps to scraps of tinfoil. Not only that, but a meal was always easy to find. Wingull weren't always very thorough in finishing their dinners, so it was common to find a partially-eaten Krabby or similar lying around. Unfortunately, Jinx rarely made such finds first as Chevron's keen nose led him to them much more quickly than Jinx could spot them from the air. The omnivorous Linoone was only too happy to finish off anything that the Wingull had left behind.

As he circled high above the beach, Jinx's eye was caught by a bright flash from off to his right. He banked in that direction, scanning the trees, only to veer away again in disappointment as he realized that it had just been the metal feathers of a Skarmory. Now that the trees had lost their leaves, the birds became increasingly distracting. They seemed irrationally irritated by Murkrow that tried to pluck one of their shiny metallic pinions, too. Jinx didn't really see why this was; after all, the Skarmory had plenty of them to go around, didn't they?

Today, nothing of interest seemed to be in the area that Tobias was currently searching. Losing interest, Jinx flapped off southward, keeping his eyes fixed on the ground below in hopes of spotting something interesting. After several minutes of flying, Jinx was beginning to grow bored. No spectacular finds presented themselves, and he was beginning to tire as he flapped heavily above the sand.

But wait…what was that? Jinx swooped in closer, intrigued. Something large was lying on the sand just ahead, half-in, half-out of the water. Jinx peered at it, puzzled. That looked like…but no, it couldn't…

Making an abrupt about-face, Jinx sped as fast as he could back to Tobias, ignoring his fatigue.


	24. Jetsam

Author's Notes: Well, I'm glad that people didn't seem too annoyed or thrown by the time jump. It wasn't in my original plan for the story, but as I got into it I realized that I needed for a bit of time to pass to allow for…certain things to happen to…certain people, and actually writing out Tobias's adventures during said times would be incredibly tedious and long.

All of my Pokemon names are generated using my special three-syllable name-generation system. It's rather complicated, but I explained a little about it in author's notes in one of the chapters in my old 'fic…let's see, Chapter 18: The Mission. For the record, Alsokaran means "Wanderer of Ancient Oceans." And no, the Slipsrti isn't Alsokaran, but you're darned close.

Wow, your review was touching, Act. I think that may be the best one that I've ever gotten. Thank you very much for all of your compliments. I just hope that the rest of this story can live up to your expectations. Skarmory is one of my old faves, and the second reason that I bought Silver instead of Gold (the first was Lugia.) It was actually little old Skarmory that got me started on the road to writing fanfiction a long time ago.

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Jetsam**

"Eww, Chevron, don't eat that!" Tobias exclaimed disgustedly. The Linoone, who had been munching on the remains of a Magikarp lying abandoned on the sand, appeared surprised by his guide's reaction. The fish looked like a perfectly decent meal to him. He stared blankly back at Tobias, chewing thoughtfully.

"That thing has probably been lying there in the sun for hours!" Tobias continued. "I bet there's all kinds of stuff growing in it."

Chevron knew this to be untrue. If the Magikarp had been around for hours, someone would certainly have eaten it by now. Deciding that Tobias didn't know what he was talking about, he took another bite.

"No! No, that's disgusting! Come on, if you're hungry, I'll get you some real food to eat," Tobias said with horror. He walked quickly over to Chevron and, with apparent loathing, tried to grab the fish away from him. Chevron, now truly annoyed, sank his teeth into the carcass and pulled back, growling.

"Give it up, Chevron! And stop growling at me," Tobias panted. Chevron did not relent, however, and the Magikarp, never in particularly good condition, was beginning to look decidedly worse for being pulled in two directions at once.

Fortunately for Chevron, it was at that moment that Jinx showed up. The Murkrow hurtled out of the sky and flapped around and around Tobias's head, screeching. Distracted, Tobias released his hold on the fish and Chevron hurriedly dragged it off to finish in peace somewhere else.

"Jinx, what is it?" Tobias asked, growing dizzy from the way that the Murkrow kept darting around and around. "Did you find something?"

Jinx cawed a wild affirmative and wheeled about, flying southward. Tobias struggled to follow, tripping over piles of seaweed and darting around rocks as he followed his Pokemon. The Murkrow sped through the air above him, his frenzied flight conveying a sense of urgency.

At last, Jinx seemed to have reached his destination. He disappeared from sight just ahead of Tobias, dropping out of the sky to land somewhere just beyond a particularly large rock. Tobias, panting, staggered around the large stone. He almost stopped breathing when he caught sight of what Jinx had found, however.

A huge blue serpent lay prostrate on the sand. Its lower body trailed limply out into the ocean, its proud horned head resting listlessly on the sandy beach. One of its horns had snapped about halfway down its length, and the sleek, scaled body was ripped open in several places. Something had apparently bitten a large chunk out of its right front flipper. The wounds, though mostly scabbed over, dribbled red blood onto the sand, only to have it licked eagerly away by each wave that covered the creature's body, drenching it all of the way up to the base of its skull, only to recede again.

Tobias had never, ever expected to find a Slipstri washed up on a Jothoan beach. He dashed forward but hesitated just before bending down to inspect the Pokemon. He couldn't tell if it was alive or not, but if it was, there was no guarantee that it would be at all happy to see a human.

Jinx seemed particularly annoyed by this reaction. Cawing angrily, he waved his wings around, seemingly angry that Tobias wasn't moving to help immediately. Reluctantly, the boy bent down. Wincing at the sight of several long slashes in the slick hide, he ran a hand carefully down the Pokemon's side, checking for any sign of breathing. To his surprise, the Pokemon shuddered slightly at his touch, the injured flipper flapping ever so slightly. It was certainly alive, then, and conscious. Slipstri were even tougher than he had thought.

Chevron, who had finished his snack and set off after his guide, skidded to a halt next to Tobias, spraying sand across the Slipstri, which flinched again. "Chevron, go back to camp and get me my backpack," Tobias ordered gravely. Chevron, who had been staring in surprise and wonder at the mighty beast, took a second to collect himself before speeding back the way that he had come, recognizing the gravity of the situation.

Meanwhile, Tobias, now left alone with the Slipstri and Jinx, was at a loss as to what to do. He had a first aid kit and Pokemon healing items in his backpack, but he didn't know how much he'd be able to do for the Slipstri even with their aid. This Pokemon needed to get to a Pokemon center, and fast, he thought. But he was at least two days' hike from the nearest center, and Jinx wasn't strong enough to carry him that far in flight. He would try and capture it in a Pokeball, as he understood that injured Pokemon deteriorated more slowly when inside one, but all of his Pokeballs were in his backpack. He had only his chimes and Igneous' Pokeball with him at the moment. Not only that, but he didn't really know the first thing about Sliptri. Did they need to stay wet? Should he try to warm it up, or keep it cool? And how in the world was he supposed to treat something that was over twenty feet long and, apparently, with wounds all along its length, part of which was still floating in the ocean?

The Slipstri stirred again. The one eye that Tobias could see opening to a pained yellow slit. "Sssslip…" it sighed quietly.

Tobias bent down closer to it. "Hey, I'm going to help you, okay?" he said quietly, trying to control his voice so as not to convey his fear.

The Slipstri didn't seem too pleased by that thought. It struggled to raise one flipper menacingly, but failed and subsided weakly. Tobias felt helpless. He didn't think that the Slipstri could last much longer without some sort of medical help. Though it had only been a few seconds, he thought desperately that Chevron should be back by now, that maybe he wasn't coming.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. It was a long shot, but worth a try. Grabbing Accemenla's chime from his belt, he rang it commandingly.

Accemenla materialized on the sand, almost immediately covering her face with her clawed paws and turning her back to the sun. _Is it really lunchtime already? _she snarled grumpily.

"No, Accemenla, I need your help," Tobias said. The Slipstri's gaze had focused blearily on the Tarsix.

"Ssss…lipssstriii," it hissed.

_Ah, yes, as usual, _Accemenla sighed, apparently not having heard the Slipstri's voice over the sounds of the ocean. _Well, what is it now?_

"Look right in front of you! There's a Slipstri that's washed up on shore and-"

_SLIPSTRI? _Accemenla shrieked, removing her hands from her eyes, only to curse as they were dazzled by the strong morning sun. Shading her eyes angrily, she peered at the Slipstri that lay before her. The Slipstri returned her gaze in as menacing a fashion as it could muster. _What are you, cursed? _she hissed softly.

"Huh?" Tobias asked, surprised.

_I didn't say anything, _Accemenla snapped. _So. A Slipstri. What about it?_

"I want you to talk to it so it can tell me what I should do to help it," Tobias replied.

_No, _Accemenla replied calmly. The Slipstri next to her hissed something indistinct, but Tobias didn't think that it sounded too encouraging. He scowled.

"What? Why not?" he asked.

The Tarsix gave the huge water snake a cool appraisal, eyes flicking across its coiling bulk. _She wouldn't talk to me, anyway. And besides, why should I care what becomes of a Slipstri?_

"Because she's another Pokemon just like you!" Tobias cried in exasperation. This conversation seemed altogether too much like the ones he'd had with Accemenla about Jinx. Though the pair's hostility had died down considerably over the past years, it still simmered beneath the surface, occasionally reaching a boil. Here, he was starting all over again from square one. "Come on, Accemenla, help me out here."

The Tarsix merely rolled her eyes and did not respond. She didn't see why Tobias had to be such a goody-goody all the time. The boy himself was distracted by the reappearance of Chevron, who had dutifully brought his guide's pack with him. Having no real shoulder to sling it over, he had tried to carry it thrown across his back, only to have it tumble off repeatedly. At last he gave up and had been forced to resort to dragging it along the ground with his teeth.

Tobias grabbed the bag eagerly, ignoring the sand that had been ground into its synthetic exterior and the grass and seaweed that had become stuck in its zippers. His old pack had long since been abandoned, considered unsuitable when compared to the much more durable and fashionable models available in Johto. Thanking Chevron breathlessly, Tobias wrenched the mired zipper open and delved into its interior.

Inside, he discovered that he was even lower on supplies than he had thought. A mere two super potions, a full heal, and a revive were to be found amongst his healing items. The jug of moomoo milk that he had bought from the large Miltank ranch north of Olivine City before heading out this way was already half-gone, kept cold by a plastic bag filled with shards of nevermelt ice. Chevron loved the stuff. Pulling the items out, Tobias reached in again and grabbed his first aid kit. Though intended for use on humans, it at least contained some bandages. Digging deeper, he at last found what he had really been looking for: a great ball.

Setting the other items aside, he maximized the capture device and turned back to the Slipstri. To his puzzlement, the sea serpent began to snarl as its yellow eyes fell upon the ball, struggling weakly as though it sought to escape. Obviously, it associated some sort of fear with the device, but why? How did it even know what a great ball was?

"What's she saying, Accemenla?" he asked the Tarsix.

_Why do you care? I certainly don't. This is all just a waste of time, _Accemenla snarled.

"Accemenla," Tobais snapped, "cut it out. I haven't got time to deal with your attitude!"

_Funny, because I've got all the time in the world, _she replied tartly. Seeing her guide's angry expression, however, she relented. _But very well, _master. _She is threatening to do you bodily harm should you capture her._

This only baffled Tobias further. "But I have to capture you if I'm ever going to get you to a Pokemon center," he said, addressing the Slipstri. "I can't heal you very well by myself."

The Slipstri hissed dangerously by way of response. Tobias looked to Accemenla, who in turn was entertaining herself by scratching out words in the damp sand at her feet, only to watch as they were licked away by the waves. The tension and anxiety that had been building in Tobias since his discovery of the injured Slipstri, mixed with renewed hope and feverish longing for home reawakened by its presence, was enough to cause the young boy to explode. And so he did, shouting, "Accemenla, will you just pay attention to me here? This Slipstri is the closest we've ever come to finding a way home, and you seem to be doing everything in your power to make things difficult! It's almost like you don't want me to find a way home!"

But he had pushed his Pokemon too far. Accemenla's eyes narrowed dangerously and her ears went back. _How astute, _she growled before returning to her chime in a huff.

Tobias, considerably deflated by Accemenla's reaction, merely stared dumbly at the spot where she had been standing for several seconds before shaking his head in puzzlement. "How astute?" What on earth had she meant by that? Tobias could feel a niggling tendril of guilt worrying at him for the way that he had snapped at the Tarsix, but he shoved it aside. It looked like he would just have to work without her help.

He turned back to the Slipstri, who was glaring at him silently. "So, you won't let me capture you? Are you sure about that?" The Slipstri bared her teeth at him. He guessed that that was a yes. "Well, I'll make do with what I've got here. Is it…is it all right if I move you out of the water a bit?" The waves constantly breaking against the Pokemon's body would wash away the super potion before it could take effect.

Reduced to simple affirmative or negative responses, the Slipstri nodded slightly. Tobias groaned inwardly as he surveyed the situation. The Slipstri was huge and incredibly heavy; in her present condition, he suspected that she'd probably be mostly dead weight as well. His only real option was to try to drag her up farther onshore.

"This is going to hurt," he warned the Slipstri. He knelt down beside her, sliding his arms under her side just below the fin joints. It was difficult to even lift her sinewy body enough to get a proper grip, and an even greater struggle to stand enough to get decent leverage. The Slipstri hung like a massive limp noodle in his arms, head lolling despite her best efforts to hold it steady, though her eyes continued to watch him keenly. Tobias struggled forward, feet sinking into the moist sand as he fought for leverage. The Slipstri's sinewy body slid reluctantly forward and up the slope, inch by inch. Tobias found that each breaking wave eased his struggle somewhat, momentarily lifting the Slipsrti's body from the sand and pushing her forward. Just as quickly he learned to brace himself firmly as each wave receded, trying to drag the Pokemon back out with it.

The Slipstri was not having an easy time of it. Many of her wounds reopened as they slid across the sand, only to have grit become lodged in them. Her shoulder joints screamed with each tug as Tobias labored to pull her further up onto the beach. At last the boy collapsed, having succeeded in moving her only a foot or so further up on shore. He groaned and lay there for a second, spent and despairing.

He couldn't do it. The Slipstri was too heavy for him to move alone. And what sort of help did he have? Jinx couldn't really do anything to help out; he wasn't strong enough, nor was he built properly for such operations. Chevron didn't have any way to grip the Slipstri to pull her along, unless he grabbed her in his teeth. And that left Igneous-Igneous, a fire-type, who would certainly not operate best with waves constantly striking him.

Tobias sat up and reached for Igneous' Pokeball. What else could he do? "Igneous, I need your help," Tobias said, tossing the sphere farther up the slope of the shore.

"Maaag. Magmar, marmar!" Igneous exclaimed as he found himself released into a very wet environment. He retreated in horror as a particularly strong wave sent a shallow tendril of water licking up the sand, dangerously close to his clawed feet. "Marrrr? Mamgar?" the Magmar asked, taking in the scene: Jinx, perched up on a nearby rock and looking back at him imploringly, Chevron, standing anxiously near Tobias, who was lying, soaked and exhausted, on the sand, and next to him, an enormous blue snake Pokemon. Igneous was confused.

"Look, Igneous, I need your help. I need to move this Slipstri up onto dry ground, and she's too heavy for me to move alone. Can you give me a hand?"

Igneous considered. The Slipstri was a water-type, her skin slick with the hated liquid. Carrying her would put him in the path of the ocean waves and sea spray for which he detested the beach. On the other hand, the Pokemon was clearly in need of his help, as was his trainer. Though often a bit gruff, the Magmar had a soft heart. "Mag. Magmar," he announced with what passed for a smile on his bill.

"Oh, thank you, Igneous," Tobias said, relieved. "All right, why don't you try putting your arms around her just below her front fins to pick her up, and I'll take her farther down." That way, Tobias would catch the brunt of the waves' fury. Igneous nodded and reluctantly stepped over to the Slipstri. She bared her teeth at him, recognizing him to be a fire-type, but made no other move to stop him. He bent down and wrapped his arms around the Slipstri, only to have her give a pained hiss. Igneous jerked back in surprise, as did Tobias, who had been preparing to seize the Slipstri closer to her second set of fins.

Igneous's fiery arms had left two long burns down the Slipstri's side. "Marrrr," Igneous lamented, feeling that he had only made things worse.

"It's okay, Igneous," Tobias said hurriedly, afraid that he might lose the Magmar's aide if he scolded him, "just keep your body temperature down so that you don't hurt her, all right?"

Igneous nodded slowly and, after making the necessary adjustments to his metabolism, bent down once more and very carefully slid his arms around the Slipstri. They did not burn, and Igneous tightened his hold before heaving the Slipstri up in one powerful motion.

The water-type cried out again as the jagged edges of the hardened lava plates encasing the Magmar's arms bit into her skin. Her own weight pressed down, forcing them yet deeper into her body. Blood streamed down Igneous' already red arms and he appeared ready to simply drop the Slipstri in shock and horror, but Tobias called, "No! Igneous, keep going! It's the only way we're going to get her up on shore, and if we can't do that, there's no way we can help her!" Tobias had dutifully raised his section of the Slipstri as well, waiting for Igneous to move forward.

Reluctantly, the Magmar did so. His strength far greater than a human teenager, he walked upslope, carrying the injured Pokemon as delicately as he could. He grimaced as her clammy body brushed against his fiery skin. Every now and then, a sudden wave would wash up about his ankles, sapping his strength as the water lapped up against his body and he was forced to expend more energy to maintain his normal body temperature. Tobias staggered along behind, struggling just to stay upright.

At last they reached what Tobias thought would be far enough away from the water, high enough so that, at least for the moment, no waves could reach most of the Slipstri. "All right, Igneous, put her down," he gasped, sinking down into the sand himself and allowing the Slipstri's midsection to roll out of his slack arms. Igneous bent down carefully and, with a swift jerk, removed his spiky arms from her underbelly. She moaned as he removed the bloody appendages from the deep puncture wounds that they had created. Igneous looked mournfully at his arms, now sticky with the thick red substance. Raising his body temperature to normal levels once more, he watched as the blood sizzled and bubbled as it slowly boiled away. Tobias thanked him once again and recalled him, still lying exhausted on the sand.

Tobias didn't give himself much time to regain his strength, however. He forced himself upright again and retrieved his healing items. He applied the super potion first, spraying what he judged to be the most severe injuries, including the bitten flipper and the weeping holes left by Igneous' skin. He winced as he saw them, but carefully steeled himself as he misted them with the super potion; there was no other way that he could have moved the Slipstri to dry land. He had done what he had to do. Finishing with the healing spray, he watched anxiously for the wounds to show signs of improvement. They began to close, although far more slowly than normal; the potion, which worked with a Pokemon's own repair system, was hampered by the fact that the Slipstri had already exhausted most of her natural healing powers.

Fortunately, the salt water had already cleansed most of her wounds. Tobias unrolled the thickest bandage in his first aid kit and wound it about the Slipstri's body, covering the scratches and scrapes that he hadn't had potion enough to treat. Lastly, he unscrewed the cap to the jug of moomoo milk and reached for his revive. The odd, spiky tablet was powdery and brittle, and Tobias crushed it between his hands, dumping the chunks into the moomoo milk and swilling it around until it looked like they had dissolved. That done, he set about trying to get the Slipstri to drink the concoction.

It was an awkward affair, the Slipstri being only barely able to raise her head. Tobias carefully poured the energy-restoring drink into her mouth, but winced at the trails of white liquid that escaped, despite his best efforts, and trailed ineffectually down her chin instead. At last, he had done all that he thought he could do at the moment. He slumped back onto the sand, exhausted.

Chevron and Jinx, who had been watching the whole affair anxiously, unable to do anything to help, rushed over to their guide, intent on comforting him and making sure that he was all right. Or at least, that's what Tobias thought they were doing. Jinx actually flapped neatly over him to land next to the Slipstri. Sidling nearer to her head in what he must have thought was a casual, discreet manner, he bent down and began muttering to the sea serpent in low, conspiratorial tones. Chevron swerved around Tobias to the discarded milk jug. Propping it awkwardly on his thumbless paws, he shoved his snout as far down into the container as it would go, pink tongue reaching plaintively for the last of the milk that clung to the plastic's interior.

Tobias lay back, staring moodily up at the clear sky. For a few minutes, he had found himself with a clear purpose, an urgent task to be accomplished. Now that he had seen to it to the best of his abilities, he found himself without any idea of what to do next. He now had one very large, very dangerous injured Pokemon on his hands. The water snake was not going to be able to hunt or swim for a few days at least, despite the usual resilience of Pokemon and their considerable regenerative abilities. That meant he'd have to provide her with food and with water, protect her from the Skarmory, and see if he could get anything out of her about Waytar to boot.

This was not going to be easy. Tobias was briefly-and uncomfortably-reminded of Marie's situation with Raikou. At any time the Slipstri could turn on him. Slipstri were undoubtedly known as the "vicious" Pokemon for a reason. He couldn't speak to her at all without Accemenla's help, and who knew when he'd be able to obtain that, if at all? Perhaps he should call Professor Elm for help.

Sitting up slightly, Tobias grinned slightly. Why hadn't he thought of this before? Certainly the Professor would know what to do in this situation, and he'd no doubt be very interested in any developments in Tobias's search for Waytar in any case. Tobias reached for his Pokenav, which now resided on his belt along with his Pokedex, chimes, and Igneous' Pokeball. Dialing the Professor's number, he waited anxiously.

And waited. And waited. Frowning, Tobias shook the small device impatiently. What was taking so long? The Professor kept his Pokenav with him at all times in case someone wanted to reach him in an emergency. And here Tobias was with an emergency and Professor Elm had apparently decided to turn off his Pokenav. After listening to the device ring a couple of more times in the wistful hope that someone might pick up, he switched it off and returned it to his belt. So, he was alone, then, at least for right now. What to do first? Well, probably go out and see if he and his Pokemon could round up something to eat. The Slipstri, who had recently slipped into an exhausted slumber, was no doubt going to be ravenous when she awoke, and, if he was anyone to judge, a fish that size was going to take a whole lot of food.


	25. A Debt Repaid

Author's Notes: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I've been sick all week and too tired to write, unfortunately. Anyway, I'm feeling better now, so this should be progressing at the usual speed once again. On a related note, _Here We Go Again _has been temporarily shelved because I'm writing a short story as a birthday present to a friend and it's taking up my secondary work writing time.

Wow, there were lots of reviews for the last chapter! Thank you all very much. And yes, Keleri, I know that the Pokegear is, technically, the one with the phone service attached. I think that the Pokenav is cooler, though, and since this story takes place a few years after the Groudon/Kyogre incident, I thought it logical to assume that Devon would offer a new model with phone capabilities.

Well, I don't think that Tobias is going to be able to catch a legendary, BambookidX. He doesn't like them very much, anyway. Thanks for pointing out the repetition of phrases. I try to avoid that as much as possible…I will fix it if I can.

Oh, no, the Raikou's long gone, Facia (as we'll see in chappie 26). The nevermelt ice thing just came to me while I was trying to figure out how trainers could realistically carry milk around in their bags with them for extended periods of time (I have eighty-something with me in LG at the moment. I love moomoo milk.)

I've said this several times before, Cedric: WindieDragon has drawn all of the currently released Waytaran Pokemon. You can get to the pictures using the link on her profile. As for what animal she's based off of, it's loosely the tarsier.

**Chapter Twenty-Five: A Debt Repaid**

"Psychic-types are notoriously difficult Pokemon to train, for several reasons. They tend to be fickle and, with complex, species-specific moral and behavioral codes, easy to offend. Many psychic-types also quarrel with their trainers as they are, in fact, technically more intelligent than their human companions. Naturally, some captive psychic Pokemon become resentful of their situation and of being ordered around by those that they consider to be inferior. Therefore, trainers should move slowly when attempting to develop a bond with such Pokemon in order to avoid conflicts as much as possible. If such problems should arise, however, and the Pokemon becomes intractable, there are several measures that can be taken to rectify the situation."

Tobias was only half-listening to his Pokedex's monotonic speech as he sat on a rock formation near the sea's edge watching Chevron and Jinx annoying the local Wingull and Pelipper. The seabirds regularly landed to rest on a nearby cluster of particularly large rocks strewn across the beach. Chevron quietly slunk around the base of the largest boulder, trying to avoid the roosting birds' gaze. Whenever he spotted a likely target, a Wingull or Pelipper enjoying a recently caught meal, he would signal to Jinx, who was circling above. The Murkrow would obligingly dive-bomb the indicated bird and, during the ensuing chaos of screeching Wingull and wildly beating wings, Chevron would stealthily acquire the bird's former lunch. Tobias just hoped that their little game didn't get out of hand; only yesterday Chevron had miscalculated, sending a misinformed Jinx after a very large, very irritable Pelipper instead of one of the more skittish Wingull. It had taken him hours to dry off enough to be able to fly again.

"Low-level Pokemon should not be bribed or cajoled into cooperating," the Pokedex continued. "If a Pokemon, particularly a clever psychic-type, is spoiled whenever it misbehaves as the trainer attempts to get it to cooperate, it will gladly take advantage of the situation and even begin to engage in negative behavior purposefully. The trainer should assert dominance by punishing the Pokemon instead, confining them to their Pokeball or depriving them of treats, and so forth. This course is inadvisable for trainers of high-level Pokemon, however, as such creatures often develop astoundingly fast reaction times, thus allowing them to teleport away or incapacitate their trainer before he or she can activate the Pokeball's return sequence."

An explosion of noisy Wingull announced that another raid was underway. Sure enough, Chevron reappeared around the side of the boulder, speeding back towards Tobias with a stolen Goldeen dangling out of his mouth. Jinx exploded out of the turmoil of the disturbed Wingull cluster to intercept Chevron before he could reach his guide, guessing, probably correctly, that Chevron didn't feel like sharing. Latching onto the fish with his small talons, he and Chevron engaged in a playful tug-of-war for the meal. Tobias shuddered and turned his full attention back to the Pokedex. Whether or not it was the natural order, he always found Pokemon eating other Pokemon, the intelligent creatures that could just as easily befriended a human, disgusting. He was a lot less unsettled by the manufactured energy pellets that many trainers fed their Pokemon for this very reason.

"For older subjects, it is still unwise to offer gifts to try to appease the Pokemon. Many psychic-types are very cynical and view such offerings as insults to their own intelligence, taking offense at the idea that they can easily be swayed by material goods."

_Now it tells me, _Tobias thought ruefully, looking down at his berry juice-stained shirt. Accemenla had been less than impressed by his own peace offering and decided to use the berries that he had given her, her favorite kind, as ammunition and pelted him with them. Now one of his only two shirts was hopelessly stained and he had apparently only made his relationship with Accemenla worse.

"Many psychic-types develop large egos; as a result, praise and flattery may win them over. If all else fails, the trainer can always send the ornery Pokemon out in a difficult battle. While the psychic-type will initially see this as a chance to prove their superiority and ignore their trainer's commands, they will quickly come to appreciate the very reason why Pokemon must be trained by humans in order to become great. Psychic-types, though their minds are incredibly powerful, are generally poor multitaskers. In a difficult battle, the psychic-type will quickly find it impossible to fend off the opponent's attacks while formulating battle strategies and launching their own. Typically, such an experience will cause the Pokemon to gain a greater appreciation for their trainer and they will become more cooperative. Of course, each Pokemon is different, and it is ultimately up to the individual trainer to find out what method works best in dealing with his or her own Pokemon."

The tinny voice cut off abruptly as it reached the end of the file, offering him the option of returning to the main psychic-type data file, which he did half-heartedly. As the computer launched into a broad description of the psychic-type's traits, he considered the options that it had given him. He'd already tried flattery, and Accemenla, who had refused to speak to him since her last cryptic statement on the day that Tobias had found the Slipstri, had simply accepted it in silence. He didn't have many battling opportunities out here in the middle of nowhere, and he couldn't leave to find any, what with the Slipsrti to look out for.

The Slipstri herself was much improved. Most of her wounds were healing well, though some damage could never be repaired. She would always sport the broken horn and the missing chunk of her front flipper, and several of the gashes along her body would leave permanent scars. Still, she was lucky to be alive. She had begun hunting on her own again, though she continued to return to Tobias for food, unable to catch much of anything as of yet. Soon, though, Tobias figured that she would be heading off into the ocean from whence she came, and with her would depart his only hope of learning her story and, perhaps, discovering the way home.

Professor Elm had not been any help in this regard, either. In fact, Tobias still hadn't been able to reach him, though he had been calling periodically over a period of four days. Tobias didn't know whether to be confused or worried; perhaps the situation was merely that the Professor had misplaced his Pokenav somehow and hadn't been able to find it yet.

"…easy to gain the ability to gain the ability to communicate telepathically with one's psychic-type Pokemon, even without formal training."

Tobias blinked, realizing he had been staring blankly at the scrolling text on his Pokedex's screen. What was that about communing with psychic-types?

"Return to the top of current paragraph," he ordered the device, curious.

The Pokedex obliged, text scrolling back upward before the computer restarted its narration. "Psychic-type Pokemon, in addition to being able to send telepathic communications to any living creature nearby, maintain a field of telepathic awareness, allowing them to pick up the psychic broadcasts of sentient organisms within a similar range. Particularly strong thoughts or emotions will penetrate the psychic-type's conscious even if they are not actively engaged in psychic communication with the subject. Thus, if a trainer thinks a certain message at their Pokemon, it is likely that he or she will pick it up, if only to get the general idea that their trainer is trying to contact them. The effect is heightened if the psychic-type is actively waiting to receive commands or information from their trainer; in such cases, messages may actually be sent to them and interpreted word-for-word. Thus, it is relatively easy to gain the ability to communicate telepathically with one's psychic-type Pokemon, even without formal training."

Now, that was intriguing. Occasionally on his travels in Johto Tobias had encountered a member of a class of trainers known as "psychics." Such people claimed to have many of the abilities of the psychic-type Pokemon and often guided their battles entirely nonverbally. Apparently, they had not necessarily acquired any powers at allmerely learned how to take advantage of the psychic-type's unique powers of telepathy.

The old rod wedged into a crevice next to Tobias shuddered suddenly, its flexible tip bending downward. Tobias hastily clipped his Pokedex back to his belt and grabbed the rod. Finally, a bite! Sitting around and waiting for an aquatic Pokemon to take the bait was more dull than he could possibly have imagined, and it was even worse for the fact that so few Pokemon lived in the shallow waters right up against the beach. Struggling to reel in his catch, Tobias forgot about his Pokedex's information.

He had remembered it by dinnertime, however. Chevron and Jinx, feeling satiated by the Pokemon that they had managed to swipe throughout the day, declined to eat anything, but Tobias released Accemenla and handed her a bowl of soup. She accepted it and a spoon in stony silence, making a point of walking over to the other side of the fire before settling down to eat it. Tobias ate his own soup, peering at the Tarsix through the central fire.

_Accemenla, _he thought, trying to push the word out towards his Pokemon. She did not respond nor give any sign that she had heard. _Hey, Accemenla, _Tobias tried again. Still nothing. _Accemenla! Listen up! Pay attention! _She gave no sign that she had heard. Concentrating as hard as he possibly could, Tobias gave a mental bellow of, _ACCEMENLA! _When this failed to elicit any sort of reaction, he angrily yelled across to her, vocally this time, "You know, it's bad enough that you ignore me when I'm trying to talk to you out loud, but now you've even decided to ignore my thoughts as well? Doesn't that seem to be going a bit far?"

Accemenla paused in eating her soup, giving Tobias a puzzled look.

"Oh, don't play innocent with me," Tobias snapped irritably. "The Pokedex told me all about your ability to detect thoughts directed at you. I know you could hear me."

This statement seemed to disturb the Tarsix for some reason. She stopped eating in earnest and stared at him intently. It almost seemed to Tobias that she was sizing him up, trying to decide if he was lying or not. Then, she reluctantly said, _I couldn't hear you._

"What? I was trying to send you mental messages, and the Pokedex says that you should be able to pick up on them."

_Oh, does it now? Of course it would know better than I would. If you were trying to send me anything, I'm afraid that you've been unsuccessful. Now leave me in peace,_ Accemenla snapped, digging into her soup again with a vicious slashing motion of her spoon.

Surprised, Tobias did as he was bid. Returning to his dinner, he mulled the brief conversation over in his mind. Something didn't add up here, somehow. Accemenla had been ignoring his best efforts to get a rise out of her for days, but she had suddenly jumped at him over this one seemingly innocuous dispute. Her response to his announcement that the Pokedex had told him that she would be able to hear him seemed particularly uncharacteristic. It was a bit too angry, the sarcasm was a bit too forced. Tobias was musing quietly, scraping the last of the soup from the bottom of his metal bowl, when it hit him. His head jerked up suddenly and he fixed Accemenla with a piercing stare. "You were telling the truth, weren't you? You really couldn't hear me. For some reason, you can't hear humans like other psychics can."

That touched a nerve. _For Sol's sake, human, no psychic can hear your thoughts! _Accemenla snarled back. _I am perfectly capable of communicating with all of the _normal, rational _human beings in this world. Though why any fool would want to is beyond me._

Tobias was considerably taken aback by this answer. But almost instantly he discredited it. "It's all right, Accemenla. If you can't read people's thoughts, that's fine by me. But I know that other psychics can read my mind," he said, voice turning slightly bitter. "After all, that was how Jinx got selected as my starter Pokemon."

Accemenla was so frustrated that she actually let out a vocal screech, clutching her head with her long-fingered hands. _Of course, you fool! This is all that thrice-damned Murkrow's fault to begin with!_

"Now, Accemenla," Tobias said with a reproving frown, as though he were patiently dealing with a three-year-old throwing temper tantrum, "you know you shouldn't call Jinx things like that. Apologize." Jinx gave a cackle of ascent. He had taken great offense to the Tarsix's statement. His red eyes glittered dangerously in the firelight.

Accemenla told Tobias some very uncomfortable things that he could do with his request for an apology. Tobias, despite himself, could feel himself beginning to lose his temper again. He forced himself to calm down, to keep his head. Accemenla was clearly very distressed; if he was ever going to get to the bottom of her odd behavior, it might as well be now. "You shouldn't take your anger out on Jinx like that all the time, Accemenla. Why can't you just admit that sometimes it's your fault and that you're not perfect?"

The change in Accemenla was almost instantaneous. She abruptly regained control of herself, unclenching her fists and settling into her usual relaxed position, leaning back on her log seat as the usual curtain of sarcasm and scorn fell across her anger. _I should have known that you were too dense to understand. Well, I suppose it's your loss. Forget I said anything. _

Tobias felt himself losing control of the situation again. The almost instantaneous mood shifts that the Tarsix exhibited threw him off, made him lose his train of thought. Scrambling for something to say before the win undeniably went to Accemenla, he finally stammered, "No, I won't forget"

_Look, will you drop it if I promise to talk to your precious Slipstri for you? _Accemenla interjected impatiently.

"But I"

_Or I could not speak to you for another couple weeks while your one and only ticket home goes swimming away, _she continued dispassionately.

"Ummm…." Tobias was torn. He wanted to get to the bottom of Accemenla's strange behavior, but he of course he wanted to go home…or thought he wanted to go home. Yes, that was more important. "All right," he sighed, accepting defeat.

Good. I suppose you want to go now, lest the great beast decide to up and leave between now and morning?

"Err, no," Tobias admitted. The Slipsrti was asleep, and he didn't want to awaken her under any circumstances. Most Pokemon were grouchy if awoken in the middle of the night, and a grouchy Slipstri, even one that he had saved, was not something that he wanted to deal with.

Accemenla snorted softly. _Well, at least you're not a complete imbecile, _she observed. _See you in the morning. _And with that, the enigmatic Pokemon returned to her chime, leaving a muddled Tobias to try to sort the situation as best he could.

Tobias mechanically fed Igneous and bedded down for the night. Accemenla's words kept returning to haunt him, however. _This is all that thrice-damned Murkrow's fault to begin with!_ What did Accemenla know, or think she knew, that he didn't? Was it just her hatred of dark-types speaking or, perhaps, something more?

Accemenla was relatively cooperative the next morning, offering no resistance as Tobias led her the short distance to the beach. Jinx and Chevron declined the invitation to come along, instead opting to lounge around the fire pit for a while longer. They both had learned early on that the Slipstri was not a very friendly sort and had been avoiding her presence where possible. Tobias had moved the camp nearer to the shore after discovering the Slipstri so that, early on, he could be close by and able to reach her quickly if need be, and as far as his other Pokemon were concerned, that was as close as they needed to get to her. The Slipstri herself still wormed her way up onto the beach to sleep, a practice which puzzled Tobias because he had thought that Slipstri were more deep-water creatures, sleeping under the waves. Tobias hoped fervently that the Slipstri hadn't already left on a hunting trip by this point.

But no, he was in luck. The serpentine form of the Slipsrti was lying coiled in lazy loops on the beach, only just beginning to stir. Tobias approached her carefully, not wanting to accidentally creep up and surprise the wild creature. Instinct tended to come before gratitude, and if the Slipstri felt threatened by him, she would probably not hesitate to deal with him quite harshly.

"Hey," Tobias called, stopping a few feet away from the Pokemon. She snorted a cloud of sand grains out of her nostrils and shook her head blearily, the motion seeming awkward and lopsided due to the fact that one of her horns was now considerably shorter than the other, coming to an awkward, ragged end rather than a graceful point.

"Ummm, good morning?" Tobias tried, walking a little closer to the water-type, trying to move as loudly as possible to be sure that she noticed him. Accemenla hung back a bit, watching the Slipstri with a narrow-eyed glare.

Still, the Slipstri didn't seem to notice his presence. She dug her flippers into the sand and awkwardly began to coil her way back to the ocean. The bandages that Tobias had used on her earlier were now gone, gnawed off by her own teeth. The wosunds that had littered her hide had healed as well as they were going to, many leaving permanent scars that stood out noticeably against her normally smooth hide. Now nearly strong enough to fend for herself again, she would be leaving this foreign land soon.

Seeing the Slipstri apparently ready to head for open water and, perhaps, his last chance of finding anything out about Waytar with her, Tobias couldn't help but lunge forward after her, calling, "Wait! Stop!"

Faster than his eye could track, the Slipsrti's head whipped around, her upper body quickly following suit. She bared her teeth menacingly, letting out a loud warning hiss. To his horrid fascination, Tobias saw gobbets of dark energy slide off of the curved fangs that lined her mouth. He backpedaled, stumbling backwards only to be thrown off balance as his heel caught an irregular sand mound. He teetered on the brink of regaining his feet for a second, time seemingly slowing down as the world focused in on this one panicked moment, before he went down in a spectacular cloud of sand. He landed spread-eagled and winded on the sand, his head smarting painfully from where it had hit a shard of driftwood.

Dazed, Tobias only barely registered that the Slipstri's dangerous hiss seemed to be going on for quite a long time, though now it had taken on an odd, undulating quality. It was Accemenla's mental voice, cutting through the pained haze that shrouded his brain, that brought him back to reality. _How gullible can you get?_ she asked in disgust.

Tobias struggled to sit up, freezing awkwardly halfway when raising himself up brought himself dangerously close to the leering head of the Slipstri. Her mouth was still open, but relaxed, the dark beads of energy gone, though Tobias could see black pockmarks in the sand beneath her mouth from where they had dripped onto the beach. She didn't immediately attack, however, and as Tobias focused more closely on the sound that she was making, he realized that she was _laughing._ She had heard Tobias coming up on her all along and had thought that it would be amusing to give him a good fright. Tobias himself thought that his heart might never recover; it seemed to have taken on a life of its own, beating a loud, frenzied tattoo that was only now beginning to die down.

"Well, uh, hi," Tobias said lamely, pulling himself all the way up so he sat cross-legged before the Slipstri. She stopped laughing and cocked her head at him, apparently curious. "Feeling better?" Tobias asked, not quite sure how to bring up what he really wanted to discuss. The Slipstri nodded once, warily, before returning to her previous position. "How did you get hurt in the first place? Did something attack you?" Tobias asked.

This elicited a response. The Slipsrti growled something, gnashing her teeth. Her yellow eyes seemed almost to glow with malice, and Tobias shrank back despite himself. When Accemenla's translation cut through his mind, however, it was almost bored. Clearly, the Tarsix was not impressed by the Slipstri's display of bravado.

As the land has become ever more dangerous, so too has the sea. Though his minions are fewer beneath the waves, many there are who disrupt the balance in his name. They attacked me as I was returning to the clouded land.

Tobias frowned. Back to this mysterious "him" person that Raikou had mentioned. Or was it the same one? "Who is he, the one who sent those…um, minions, after you?"

The Slipstri snorted something concise. _She doesn't know, _Accemenla said.

The translation didn't really seem to fit with the original action. "Really?" Tobias asked. The Slipstri, thinking it had been a direct question, looked puzzled.

_Yes, of course really, _Accemenla snapped. _That was what she said._

The Slipstri herself merely stared blankly back and forth between guide and Pokemon, uncomprehending. Tobias realized with a jolt that Accemenla wasn't letting her in on the mental translation. Why not, though? The idea unnerved him slightly. But Accemenla wouldn't lie about what the Slipstri had said, would she?

"The clouded land?" Tobias asked. "Do you mean Waytar."

The Slipstri made dismissive gesture with a fin, bobbing her head. _Yes, yes, if that's what the humans call it, _Accemenla supplied.

Tobias's heart leapt. Finally he had confirmation of his greatest hope. This Slipstri had been to Waytar before, and apparently had been intending to return therefrom outside of the shield. She must know a way for him to get back in! "I'm from there, too!" he gushed before he could restrain himself. The Slipstri merely gave him an incredulous look.

_I think she guessed that already, _Accemenla observed drily.

"Oh, err, yeah," Tobias admitted. Probably even having heard of Waytar was a dead giveaway that you came from the hidden land. "But how did you get through the shield?"

The Slipstri gave a shot speech, occasionally gesticulating with a front fin. _All dark-types can enter and exit the shield freely, _Accemenla said. Tobias thought he could detect an undercurrent of some other emotion rumbling beneath the cool mental message. What was it? Bitterness, scorn, uncertainty…fear? _The Slipstri migrate yearly from Waytar to some other place. She just knows it as "the sleeping land." And before you ask, no, I have no idea what that means, _Accemenla continued.

Tobias took a minute to try to make sense of what had been said. _All _dark-types could cross through the shield? Well, he guessed that maybe that could be true. Few people would notice a missing Pokemon here or there, he supposed. But what about him? "I could get through the shield, but I'm not a dark-type Pokemon," Tobias pointed out. "Why?"

The Slipsrti just blinked at him. Puzzled, Tobias turned to Accemenla. _I've got nothing, _she said. _Next question. _

"How can I get back?" Tobias asked. "How can I find Waytar?"

The Slipstri swiveled to look at Accemenla, giving her a piercing, searching glare. Then she returned her attention to Tobias and snorted something short and simple.

_The Murkrow knows the way back. He can show you,_ Accemenla said.

Really? Now that was interesting. Why would Jinx know the way back, and why hadn't he tried to show Tobias before? Unless…for some reason he couldn't? How was he going to get to…wherever Waytar was? He couldn't just take any Pokemon with surf; they couldn't get through the shield. Jinx couldn't fly there; he wasn't strong enough. And swimming there on his own was pretty much out of the question, too. "Couldn't you just take me?" Tobias suggested.

The Slipstri recoiled as though she had been struck across the face, hissing angrily and shaking her head vehemently. "But why not?" Tobias persisted, perhaps unwisely.

The Slipstri brought her head down, dangerously close to his face. The reek of decaying fish wafted from her open mouth as she hissed, "Sssslippsssss…."

_No Slipstri would ever stoop so far as to bear a human rider, _Accemenla explained. _It is unwise even to ask; you're rather brave, to insult her honor so._

"Sorry," Tobias said hastily, feeling disappointment creep in like a chilly fog to shroud his happiness. "Do you know any way that I can get back? I don't have any dark-type Pokemon that can carry me through the shield right now."

The Slipstri gave him a questioning look, shaking her head slightly and sighing. _Didn't you ever wonder why Murkrow guides are so feared in Waytar? _Accemenla asked, translating the Slipstri's question.

"Yes!" Tobias replied enthusiastically. Would the serpent actually be able to tell him why the world seemed to turn against him after he was selected to guide Jinx? A rush of old memories came flooding back with the question: the nurse in the Pokemon center of Tomato, sleeping fitfully through a cold, wet night on the Larvari plains, Madam Truealder's horrified expression as she saw what Tobias's first chime had given to him… was there some deeper reason than just the fact that Murkrow were hated by Waytar's residents?

The Slipstri took an unusually long time to explain. Accemenla translated as she went, filling in the Slipstri's narration after a slight lag. _In Waytar, there are four dark-type families, _she began. _First are the Slipstri, and they are far too proud to carry any human through the shield. Nor will they discuss the shield's weak points with those that they consider unworthy of the knowledge, and those that fall into this category are many. Even those pitiful captive-raised Slipstri, evolved from Blubble, will not carry their guides through the shield. They are unimportant in any event; their riders could not cross through anyway. Blubble is an accepted starter._

_Skullk and its kin cannot swim, nor can it fly. As such, they have never learned that the shield may be broken. _

_Sneasel can swim, but are very poor at it. They hate saltwater and would not be strong enough to carry a human for any great length through the ocean as it saps their powers. Still, Sneasel guides are considered very dangerous by the shield's guardians. New guides that get a Sneasel for a starter are ostracized and heavily monitored._

_Finally, there are the Murkrow. Murkrow can fly, though admittedly not far or well. This weakness can be overcome by strong guiding, however, which is what makes Murkrow guides dangerous. A well-guided Murkrow will gain the ability to enhance its flight capabilities through the use of dark energy. Murkrow are known to be far less proud than Slipstri; if they see some gain in it for themselves, they would have no qualms about taking a human through the shield. And so, guides who begin with this Pokemon are marked from the beginning. They are some of the few who can pass through the shield, should they be given the means. The Murkrow that they receive as starters will be able to take them through the shield, should they be adequately guided. Either of the two by themselves is not very dangerous, as the guide would be without transportation and the Murkrow without necessary experience. Together, they create an ignorant but still potentially deadly combination. This is why the caretakers of the shield target Murkrow guides._

It was as though a veil had been drawn back from Tobias's eyes. The reason seemed so logical, so obvious. Though he somewhat doubted the Slipstri's assertion that none of the creatures would ever consent to bear a human through the shield. Surely, there must be some who would value the chaos that it would cause more than they valued their honor? And there was something else. "Wait, you said that Murkrow guides can all go through the shield? Why?"

The Slipstri didn't answer the question, or if she did, Accemenla omitted her response. The next that Tobias heard from her was, _Do you really wish to go back?_

"Of course I do!" Tobias said without thinking. "I mean, why wouldn't I?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, however, they seemed rather ridiculous. Wasn't the fact that people in Waytar seemed to want to kill him a good reason not to go back? He had an easy life here in Johto, or at least as easy as it got for a trainer. What did Waytar have that Johto didn't?

The Slipstri merely shook her head, and Tobias thought that she might have sighed. _Tell me, then, has your Murkrow learned to use the technique faint attack? _Accemenla translated when the serpent next addressed him.

"Ummm, no…" Tobias replied, heart sinking. Would nothing ever be easy? He was sure that Jinx must be fairly close to learning the attack, but even so, he felt irked that it would take still more effort to finally achieve his goal.

_That is the technique that he must master before he will be able to take you through the shield, _the Slipstri announced, by way of Accemenla. _Once he learns that, he will be able to carry you almost anywhere in the world. _

"Almost?"

_There are some places that would be dangerous to fly to, _the Slipstri said with a slight wave of her flippers, a sort of shrug. Accemenla found herself unconsciously mimicking the dark-type's movements as she translated, and angrily reigned her body in, standing rigid, paws held deliberately at her sides. _Is that all that you wished to ask me? _the Slipstri continued. _The tides call to me…it is long past time that I return to the clouded land. I think that I am well enough to make the journey, now, and I would prefer to leave as soon as I could._

"No, I guess there's nothing else," Tobias said, quickly running through the questions swirling around in his head. None of them seemed appropriate to ask the Slipstri, however. He groaned inwardly, knowing that he would probably remember something to ask her long after she had disappeared back into the trackless ocean. "So, thanks, I guess. And goodbye."

_I suppose it is I that should be thanking you, _was the grudging reply. Tobias smiled slightly; though neither of the two of them would appreciate the comparison, the Slipstri and her unwilling translator were very much alike. _Farewell, human, _the Slipstri concluded, turning away from him. Her powerful body slithered across the sandy beach, sliding foot by foot into the water. Tobias watched her go with an odd mixture of emotions.

He felt happy, of course, that he had been able to find out a way back to his homeland. Still, he was almost disappointed at how simple the answer really was. After all this time of searching and hoping, he had been expecting some sort of grand quest to unlock an ancient artifact or fulfill a prophecy. As the Slipstri's fluked tail at last slithered off of the sand and into the foam of a breaking wave, Tobias felt the bizarre urge to wave at the departing Pokemon, much as he might wave at a ship carrying a friend or family member out of port and off to some distant land.

The Slipstri had reached deep water and was beginning to accelerate before suddenly stopping and calling something back over the water. Tobias didn't know how Accemenla discerned the hissing cries from the roar and slosh of the waves, but she did, and relayed, _Oh, and human, tell the Murkrow that Alsokaran will hear of this. By your actions, his debt has been repaid in full._


	26. A Challenge

Author's Notes: Bleah, another late chapter. School has not been merciful lately. It is quite long, however. Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews, though, and welcome to all of the new reviewers. I'm afraid that this section is going to be a bit long so I can reply to as many of you as I can.

Sorry if I got a bit snappy with you in the last notes sections, Cedric. I'm really not annoyed at you. As to what a tarsier is, I'd recommend that you Google it and look for a picture…although people who have tried that before have been a bit put out by its appearance. And oh, yes, Accemenla has issues.

That's an interesting theory, Keleri. It's quite possible, I'm sure, though how he got a mental shield seems like a bit of a question in that case.

Well, ObsidianSpires, I'll agree that Waytar isn't such a nice place. However, it's probably looking a little more safe than the other regions, which seem to be having some serious problems, and of course, Tobias has got family there, whether or not he'll be able to see them safely. I suppose the real question is, which is Tobias more afraid of, the legendaries and the mysterious "him" guy, or the people in Waytar who are trying to kill him? And as for Waytar hiding things, well, the whole place seems a bit fishy to me. I'd count on that.

You've done it again, WindieDragon, the rock appears again in this chapter, if only briefly. I'm sure that it will get its day in the spotlight soon, however. As to the issue of Ranfulgor, he is a Pokemon, and a psychic-type. He is also quite bulky (another self-created) but he was on the boat with Tim. He could read his partner's mind just fine; Tobias's Pokedex wasn't lying. Most, if not all, psychic-types, can read most, if not all, the minds of sentient creatures. Accemenla's the only one who seems to have issues with this.

Congratulations on getting LG, Yellowspotted Lizard. Unfortunately, you're going to have to go through the League and beyond before you can send Hoenn Pokemon to your game. That Ditto idea is an intriguing one, but since you already called it, you can have it.

And to everyone who asked, Tobias is at least going to try to get back. Whether or not he'll regret it is another matter. Thanks again to everybody who reviewed but didn't get mentioned here; this is already almost a page and I don't want to drag it out much longer.

Chapter Twenty-Six: A Challenge

Tobias had his Pokedex out again, this time looking for information on Murkrow. "Display the move list for Murkrow," he commanded it.

"Murkrow's moves are: peck from hatching, astonish at level nine, pursuit at level fourteen, haze at level twenty-two, night shade at level twenty-seven, faint attack at level thirty-five…"

"All right, now give me the current status of my party Pokemon," Tobias said, cutting the Pokedex off before it could go on to list all of Murkrow's level-up moves, TM and HM techniques, and egg moves.

The Pokedex's screen went blank for a second before a summary status window appeared. It listed Jinx as being a high level thirty-one. Tobias sighed and shut the device off. Four more levels, then. Four more levels and he would be able to use Jinx's unique abilities to get home. But how was he supposed to get them?

With the league season over, many trainers had returned home to spend time with their families and catch up on some of their schoolwork in the special trainer education programs that the league provided for participants. That meant that there were no official tournaments to attend, no gym leaders to face off against, and few powerful trainers wandering the routes in search of a battle. Earning experience would be difficult; there were always wild Pokemon to face, of course, but most of them weren't worth much experience. His best bet would be to head to Olivine and see if they had any unofficial tournaments running. Since it was a fairly large city, and one with a port that needed to provide entertainment to sailors during their brief land visits, it was possible that the League stadium would be rented out for tournament use during the off-season.

Accemenla stood next to him, still staring out across the ocean. Though the Sliptri had long since disappeared, Accemenla kept her eyes focused on something out across the water, lost in thought. "Come on, Accemenla. We need to get back to camp. We're going to Olivine."

_Very well, _Accemenla said resignedly. She became immaterial and returned to her chime, leaving Tobias alone to trudge back across the short distance to his campsite. Jinx was preening himself contentedly, perched on one of the logs surrounding the firepit. Chevron was not in sight, but the sound of something crunching around in the dead leaves near the edge of camp indicated that he had probably not gone far.

"Hey, Jinx," Tobias said excitedly as he neared the engaged Murkrow. Jinx stopped what he was doing and peered expectantly at Tobias. Not seeing any obvious treats or rewards, however, he quickly lost interest and returned to his grooming. "I found out that we can get back to Waytar if you learn how to use faint attack," Tobias continued. Jinx gave him a mildly interested look from over one outstretched wing. "So, umm, what do you think? Aren't you excited to be going back?"

Jinx paused and thought for a moment, as though not quite comprehending the question. Then, seeing Tobias obviously expecting an affirmative response, gave a happy crow and returned to more important matters. Tobias was too wrapped up in his own excitement to notice Jinx's apparent indifference, and instantly began to gush information like a ruptured pipe.

"This is so amazing, Jinx! I can't believe we'll actually be going home soon!" he announced as he crossed the small campsite to where he had left his pack resting against one of the outlying logs. He stooped down to roll up his sleeping bag, which was crumpled in an untidy sprawl near his pack. Tobias didn't really see the point of making his bed, especially when out in the wilderness where no one was around to nag you about it; if it worked well enough to keep you warm, it could be as messy as a Spearow's nest for all that he cared. He horribly bungled the process of trying to roll it up, ending up with a sort of bulging mass only barely restrained by the nylon straps that crossed and re-crossed its surface in a confusing web, but didn't notice nor care, talking all the while. "It won't take long to reach level thirty-five, will it, buddy? I mean, that's probably only a few good trainer battles…if we win…or maybe a tournament or so. We're going to Olivine, did I mention that?"

Jinx listened politely to all of his guide's chatter, nodding occasionally to appear interested, while mentally dissecting the information for himself. A way back to Waytar, was it? Well, if it made Tobias as happy as he was now all of the time, he'd be liable to be a little more lenient on rules. Elated humans seemed to be less likely to punish you for little things like rescuing sparkly rocks from other humans for which they were obviously unsuited…so it must be a good thing. Oh, and he'd get to see his home again. Well, the sparkly rocks were more important, but he supposed that was nice, too.

It took Tobias about fifteen minutes to break camp, and most of that was spent looking for his Zephyr badge, which seemed to have mysteriously disappeared from the front of his pack, where he had been keeping it and the rest of his badges pinned. To his considerable surprise, Jinx found it in his own private stash along with a discarded makeup mirror and the mysterious ticking item that was a very shiny golden color but obviously useless worn on human's wrist, which was where he dimly recalled having seen one before. Not that he could place how any of the items came into his possession, least of all Tobias's badge, whose polished surface had just clashed so terribly with the dull, mud-stained exterior of the bag that it practically screamed to be liberated.

Before he knew it, Tobias was on the road again, glued to his Pokedex's map screen, which seemed to indicate that he could probably make it into Olivine by nightfall, provided that he kept up a good pace. That wasn't too surprising; Tobias had stopped by the famous MooMoo Farms headquarters on his way out to the ocean and had dimly recalled that the place was only a few hours north of Olivine, the city that he had seen on his first day in Johto, courtesy of Ralph's unofficial aerial tour.

The mid-October forest air was crisp and pungent, the constant crackle of fallen leaves rising intermingling with the musty smell of their decomposition. The only hint of menace held within the peaceful land would seem to be what inhabited its treetops, the clusters of armored bodies and the occasional shriek from somewhere in the distance as the predators successfully made a kill. Tobias was on the lookout for wild Pokemon at all times, prepared to set Jinx on them with the slightest provocation, but few presented themselves. He could be heard coming a long way off and most of the forest's denizens were preparing to go into hibernation anyway, the Caterpie and Weedle of the forest seeking out a damp, sheltered spot to evolve and ride out the harsh cold as a Metapod or Kakuna, emerging in the springtime in their final form.

The day passed pleasantly, with Jinx having little opportunity to get into trouble in the deserted woodland and Chevron occasionally bringing Tobias an early ice berry, the ubiquitous staple of many a wild Johtoan Pokemon's diet during the long winter months. Tobias trudged into Olivine right on schedule, just as darkness was encompassing the bustling city. The Pokemon center was easy to find, its massive neon sign visible from the northern entrance. Tobias made a beeline for the safe haven, eager to spend a night in the warmth of a temperature-controlled environment and not inclined to go wandering the city's labyrinthine streets after dark.

The center's doors slid back to admit him with their typical cheery ding, ushering him into the building's dim interior. The lights in the common area were completely off, the furniture that normally resided there gone. The centers experienced greatly reduced traffic flow during the off-season and took the opportunity to repair and disinfect the long-suffering chairs and couches that spent most of the rest of the year beneath the wet rear ends of trainers who had just surfed in from Cianwood and whose occasional dunk in the brine was their first bath in weeks. Most of the center's other lights were off as well, as large areas of the facility were not in use. A single storage computer's monitor glowed from off in a distant corner; all but two of the video phones were deactivated.

Tobias eagerly crossed to the desk and gave the nurse all of his Pokemon. Though they hadn't been in any real fights while he had been out wandering, neither had they had any sort of real medical attention during that time, and Tobias deemed it time for a checkup. The nurse seemed utterly unfazed by the chimes that he handed her along with his Pokeballs; most of the younger nurses had left their season jobs with the center and returned to school, leaving only the more jaded employees to deal with the occasional wandering trainer.

"It'll be a while. The main healer is having issues with the new software we've been trying to install on it, so I'll have to deal with your Pokemon myself. Make yourself at home. Oh, and remember, no free meals in the off-season."

With that, she disappeared into the back area, leaving Tobias to his own devices. He eagerly strode over to the notice board kept near the wide, open area to the left of the main desk. Pokemon centers in Johto did not provide rooms for trainers who wished to stay overnight, their philosophy being that, if a trainer couldn't stand to go another night sleeping on the ground, he or she could cough up the money to rent a hotel room. Rather, a large, open area was designated as a place where travelers could spread out their sleeping bags and make themselves at home. Tobias's footsteps echoed eerily in the vast open space which, during the League season, would be crowded with trainers at this time of night.

The notice board, too, looked depressingly emptier than it was for most of the year. Aside from a couple of lost-Pokemon flyers and an advertisement for Whirl Islands Lapras tours, there was but one notice of interest. Tobias bent down and read it eagerly.

**The Eighteenth Annual Lighthouse Challenge is Approaching!**

Bring your best and see if you have what it takes to ascend all six levels of the legendary Olivine Lighthouse! Test your skills against Olivine's finest resident trainers in this unique tournament battle. Visit the lighthouse on Saturday, October 19th to register and participate in this grand Olivine tradition. The rules are as follows:

1. Each participant may use only three Pokemon per match

2. No items other than held items are permitted

Registration begins at six o'clock AM and the challenge will begin at promptly eight. Spaces are limited, so come early to ensure that you will have a place.

The first-place winner will win the coveted Lightbringer trophy, a rare retired Thunderpunch TM, and a handsome cash sum of 5000Pk. Prizes will also be awarded to second- and third-place trainers.

It looked like he was in luck, then; the nineteenth was only two days away. Surely, after three years, he could wait just two more days to finally find a means by which to get home? And yet, as he lay awake on the tiled floor, he found that it was far more difficult to stand the waiting now that he knew for sure that the way home was just barely out of his grasp.

Tobias spent the next day exploring the large port city. Though impressive, the busy Olivine was nothing next to Johto's commercial center, Goldenrod City. Olivine did, however, boast several unique attractions, not the least of which was its towering lighthouse. Tobias would have dearly liked to visit it so as to scope its interior out and perhaps get a better idea of what the tournament would entail; the small notice had been far from specific as to the actual tournament conditions. As it turned out, however, the tournament itself would merely be the kickoff for a week-long celebration commemorating the lighthouse's construction some eighty years before, and the building was closed for preparations.

With that attraction unavailable, Tobias instead visited the fishing pier and spent the greater part of the day there and on the beach, alternately fishing and gawking at the exotic wares constantly being unloaded from the boats that streamed into and out of the harbor. Perhaps the most interesting contingent that Tobias saw come ashore was a group of merchants from Hoenn, apparently traveling to a celebration somewhere here in Johto. Numerous large boxes of cargo and exotic Pokemon came with them, each more wonderful and curious than the last. As he watched, a large, bossy-looking man got into a loud argument with a sailor who had been unloading what Tobias guessed must be his goods. Apparently, the man thought that his merchandise had been treated a bit roughly, as he irately pried the lid off the large traveling crate that had been brought down the gangplank and fished around in it, coming up with an odd black object.

Tobias squinted at it uncertainly before realizing that it was some sort of pottery Unown, the strange Pokemon that appeared to be linked to the alphabet. The specimen that the man was currently waving angrily in the sailor's face was an "anger" Unown, and apparently a broken one, as it was missing a chunk of one of its prongs. Tobias guessed that the man must run a booth where he sold his Unown replicas or perhaps used them to make customized name plaques or the like for patrons.

The sight of the broken Unown reminded Tobias briefly of the mysterious rock shard that had been traveling around with him in his pack ever since Chevron had given it to him so long ago on the Larvari Plains. He'd had a chance to show it to Professor Elm before he left the lab, and it turned out that the symbols impressed upon it were actually from the Unown rune system, one that wasn't very difficult at all to read. Most of the symbols mirrored their English counterparts, though some were a bit puzzling. The Professor had gladly showed Tobias how to read his stone shard, though it proved to be just as enigmatic when translated as when he hadn't had any clue what it was saying, though now that he had learned how to read the Unowns he was surprised he hadn't been able to figure out how to before. Absently, Tobias slid his pack to the ground and reached into it, fishing for the small stone. He found it at last and clasped it in his hands, squinting down at the small symbols. They gave him no different answer than before, the incomplete sentences inscribed carved on the rock probably part of some boring old historical document anyway.

IX PILL

LD'S TEETH

OULD WE EVE

ORALS, SO

Tobias shook his head, still unable to gain any sort of clue from the fragmented message. Sighing, he slipped the rock back into his backpack and turned his attention back to the unfolding drama. The merchant, still arguing loudly, had been moved off to one side to make way for the rest of the passengers and their wares. An aromatherapist was next off the ship, and with him several boxes of the latest fragrances devised to soothe the nerves of both people and Pokemon. The man's own Pokemon carried the crates, presumably because he didn't trust the sailors to be gentle enough with the boxes full of delicate glass vials. A crowd was beginning to gather around the boat, gaping at its exotic passengers much as Tobias was, or merely attracted the sweet scent that wafted from the man's Pokemon, a waddling Blissey and Vileplume carrying a large box between them and a Vileplume and Bellossom working together to carry the second crate. Though Tobias didn't know it, the people drawn so inexorably to the docks were all tourists like himself, the local citizenry long since used to the amazing sights that passed daily in and out of their port.

A fruit seller was next, a Tropius descending the gangplank with her, and some sort of performer after that. His Mister Mime waved to the crowd, which gave an enthusiastic cheer. Apparently, he was quite well known around here. The last person to disembark the boat was a young woman followed by a Pokemon the likes of which Tobias had never seen. It prowled menacingly alongside its trainer, large black claws digging in to the gangplank as it fought off the reeling gait that so often accompanied those that found themselves once again on dry land after several days at sea. Swathed in long white fur save for its black face, its most prominent feature was perhaps the curved blade sprouting from its head, glinting a dangerous black in the bright afternoon sun.

Intrigued, Tobias reached for his Pokedex and pointed it at the creature. "Absol, the disaster Pokemon," it hummed. "Native only to Hoenn. Absol are so in tune with nature that they are able to predict oncoming natural disasters. Charged with protecting all living creatures in their territory from such devastating calamities, they routinely appear to try to warn humans of impending disaster. Over time, however, the humans associated their presence with their disaster itself rather than with a warning, and they gained a dark reputation as instruments of doom."

A scapegoat, then? Tobias wondered as he shut his Pokedex once more. He felt a slight twinge of empathy for the proud Pokemon. He knew what it felt like to be the victim of unfair prejudice. The girl and her Absol disappeared into the milling crowd, all of whom were crushed up around the exotic party, eager to get an early glimpse at their wares. The merchants did not linger to bargain, however; the party moved off, shoving through the crowd as best they could. Tobias walked closer, reaching the outer edge of the swarm of people on the docks. "Hey," he said to one boy about his age who was craning his neck as he tried in vain to see over the mass of people in front of him, "why are those people coming here?"

"What, haven't you heard?" the blonde-haired boy asked in surprise. "They're here for the lighthouse festival, of course! Well, and I guess that they're headed other places after that. I think I heard somebody mention a winter celebration up in Blackthorn or something, but I don't really have a clue."

"Ah," Tobias said, drifting back out of the crowd and returning to the beach, where he had left Chevron and Jinx. Chevron was frisking in the waves, dancing as close as he could to the receding water and then dashing as fast as he could back to higher ground as soon as the next broke, trying to outrun the ocean. Jinx had had enough frolicking and was dozing on a deserted beach chair.

His second day in the city was highlighted by a visit to the local gym. Though the building was technically closed during the off-season and its leader, Jasmine, was not able to accept challenges, the generous girl had allowed groups of schoolchildren to use the facilities for Pokemon battle classes. Tobias slipped in to watch the instruction, intrigued. Schools in Johto functioned a great deal differently than those in Waytar. For one thing, the students were divided into several different grade levels instead of staying together as one large class. For another, their day was divided up between several different classes, including courses in the various Pokemon disciplines that would be offered only to children who had been selected to become guides back in his home region. Most of those that occurred outside of the school building, such as this one, were open to the public.

The interior of the gym was elaborately decorated, with statues parading around the reception area where trainers would normally make reservations for their gym battle and huge hammered friezes ringing the ceiling of the stadium proper. And what's more, it was all metal-silvery Steelix posing alongside Scizor of a rusted red, copper covered with mossy patina and molded into the forms of grass-types, a majestic Ho-oh statue done in brass. Tobias looked uneasily away from the latter; was it just him, or was the legendary rainbow bird's hooked beak opened in a fierce shriek of wrath?

The excited students, however, were not admiring the architecture as Tobias ascended the bleachers opposite their class. Every small eye was fixed hungrily upon their instructor and a teenager who were preparing to do battle in the central arena. The boy must be in high school, Tobias reasoned, as he had with him several Pokemon, which would seem to indicate that he was already a trainer, back in school now that the season was over. His Stantler snorted angrily at its opponent, the teacher's dull-looking Piloswine.

"All right," the teacher began, turning to his students, "as you can see if you scan the combatants with your Pokedex, Jeff and I are each using a Pokemon rated at level thirty-three. There are no innate type advantages or disadvantages between the two, and neither species is considered overwhelmingly powerful when compared to the other. This fight looks pretty even; any ideas as to who will win?"

Most of his speech had been lost amidst the sounds of two dozen Pokedexes simultaneously being pulled out and being used to assess the strength level of the Pokemon. The Pokedexes were school loaners, used only for battle classes and other courses where it would be necessary to identify detailed statistical information on Pokemon or look something up over the Dexwork, the international database that was linked to all Pokedexes and allowed them to be updated with new information almost instantly. These models were old, and one was actually only just finishing its announcement that the two Pokemon were level thirty-three as the teacher asked his question, having taken what modern trainers would consider an atrocious amount of time to correctly analyze the Pokemon's stats. Nevertheless, the question apparently reached at least a student or two, as a quartet of small hands rose out of the crowd.

"Yes, Kelsi?" the teacher asked, indicating a brown-haired girl.

"Your Pokemon is going to win because you're the teacher," she announced sagely. This elicited a chuckle from the man himself and from a few of her fellow students as well.

"Well, I don't know about that," the instructor replied with a smile. "Jeff's a very good trainer, you know. He was in my class before, so of course he knows all of my tricks already." The man spared a wink for his former student, who smiled. The instructor called upon the next student.

"I think Jeff is going to win because Stantler is a lot faster than Piloswine," the boy announced, clearly pleased that he had used actual logic to formulate his answer.

"Good observation, Matt," the man said with a nod. "Stantler really is much faster than Piloswine. Why do you think that speed would make a difference?"

"Because if a Pokemon is really fast, it can attack more often than slow ones and it dodges better," Matt explained.

"Very true," the teacher agreed. "Any other ideas? Jessica?"

"I think that Stantler will win because she has better moves," the girl said, not looking at the instructor, but rather at the screen of the enormous old Pokedex clutched in her hand. "This Piloswine doesn't know any status attacks at all, and Stantler has hypnosis. If she can put Piloswine to sleep, she won't have to worry about being attacked at all."

The Stantler tossed her head proudly, and Tobias wisely looked away. He had battled against trainers with Stantlers before and knew of their hypnotizing horns. As they passed through the air, they distorted it in odd ways, creating a hypnotizing optical illusion. One of the students illustrated this nicely by promptly falling asleep, much to the amusement of his peers.

"Good point," the teacher conceded. "Anyone else…no? Well, then I guess it's two to one against me. Not good odds, but we'll see what I can do. Here we go." He turned back to his opponent. "Ready?" he asked.

Jeff nodded and began with a sharp command of, "Hypnosis!"

"Piloswine, use take down," the teacher commanded calmly.

The Stantler stood her ground but began to rhythmically tilt her head from side to side, keeping a steady flow of air circulating through her strange, reality-warping horns. The Piloswine trundled forward, very slowly at first, but increasingly fast as his four tiny legs motored as fast as they could, allowing the inertia of the Pokemon's ponderous body to carry him along. He seemed utterly unaffected by the hypnosis attack. The Stantler didn't give up, angrily continuing to sweep her head back and forth as though she couldn't believe that her attack wasn't working. Miscalculating, she didn't leave itself enough time to dodge and caught the full force of the attack as the Piloswine barreled into her. The deerlike Pokemon staggered back while the shaggy Piloswine came to a halt, shaking his head dazedly and stepping back a pace or two.

"Quick, sand attack," Jeff called to his Pokemon. The Stantler recovered quickly, digging a forehoof into the floor of the arena. As this was a gym in which steel-type Pokemon were trained, the ground was rocky and hard. The Stantler succeeded in only kicking up a small shower of sand grains.

"Take down again, Piloswine."

The brown Pokemon charged straight into the sand attack and barreled through it, once again slamming into the Stantler and sending her reeling away. The normal-type was clearly beginning to flag. Her slender frame was not built to take such heavy punishment, and the Piloswine looked barely diminished. He came to a halt once more, large pink nose questing continually. The student, seeing that his defensive maneuvers were failing, decided to try to go on the offensive. "Stantler, try a stomp," he encouraged.

"Dig," the instructor ordered calmly.

The Stantler recovered quickly and bounded across the arena, rearing back on her hind legs and bringing her front hooves crashing down-on empty air. The slender appendages instead plunged into a deep tunnel. The Stantler, unprepared, pitched forward as her legs disappeared into the unexpected hole. The Piloswine had vanished with amazing speed, four legs and tusks plowing through the rocky ground as he executed the dig command.

"Quick, Stantler, get out of there!" the younger trainer shouted nervously, realizing instantly the situation that his Pokemon was in. His Pokemon was already obliging, front legs scrabbling for leverage on the side of the tunnel while she tried to back away. It was too late, however. The Piloswine had his opponent just where he wanted her, and the pig Pokemon erupted from the earth beneath her hind legs, knocking them out from under his opponent. The Stantler collapsed, front legs coming free of the miring earth. She kicked at the Piloswine with her hind legs but the ice-type responded by sending a blast of ice crystals at her exposed underbelly. The Stantler gave a bray of pain, and her trainer recalled her quickly.

The Piloswine slowly did an about face and padded back to his trainer's side of the field. The instructor patted his humped back fondly as he came up alongside him, then turned to the class and began to explain. "Piloswine actually had an advantage in this battle. You see, while it is true that he is slower than Stantler, he has a higher endurance and is better able to withstand offensive attacks. Normally, this would be unimportant, as Stantler trainers tend to avoid direct combat with their Pokemon, preferring to use Stantler's disabling techniques to wear down their opponents. Some of you may remember, however, that Piloswine are nearly blind."

The Pokemon next to him gave a gusty snort, blowing the fringe of hair that hung down over his face up and out of the way. Tobias caught a glimpse of two beady, bleary eyes before the obscuring locks settled back to their normal position. "Because of this, most of Stantler's attacks wouldn't affect him. He can't see a hypnosis attack to be hypnotized; his eyes were protected from the sand attack by his hair, and even if they did get damaged, he would still be able to fight, as he relies almost solely on smell to track his opponents. If you can learn to use your Pokemon's weaknesses as strengths, you will undoubtedly triumph in difficult battles."

The teacher went on to talk about various strategies that could be used to make use of a Pokemon's natural talents and drawbacks, and Tobias listened eagerly. It seemed appropriate that he spend the day before the tournament learning about battle techniques. Not that he would have much time to practice with them, but perhaps they would come in handy during the Lighthouse Challenge. He got up and slipped out the way he had come as the teacher moved on to describe the student's homework for the class, which involved selecting a Pokemon and writing a battle plan that would make use of what many people considered to be its drawbacks. A chorus of groans and protestations followed him out of the gym stadium, only to be abruptly cut off as the door to the arena slammed shut behind him.

Tobias couldn't sleep on the night before the tournament. So much was riding on how he performed the next day. If it consisted of elimination matches and he lost too early, Jinx probably wouldn't grow enough to be able to use faint attack, and Tobias would be left to go and seek out an experience-gaining opportunity once again. He had only ever entered one tournament in Johto, and it had been a complete disaster. The crowd had unnerved Chevron to the point that he froze up on the field, allowing his opponents to easily strike him with their most powerful attacks. Accemenla had been put out of commission early in their first battle when a Sunflora trainer had ordered a sunny day attack. The amplified sunlight that the attack created had temporarily blinded the Tarsix, and Tobias hadn't been able to use her in any later battles. Jinx had fought bravely, but the ridiculous popularity of the Pikachu and Mareep families at that particular tournament had often seen him matched up against opponents with extreme advantages. And Igneous, Tobias's newest Pokemon and at that point very unfamiliar with battles, had blundered though his first few fights. Tobias had come away from the fight with an aversion to tournament battling and a disappointing 5-12 record.

But surely this time it would be different. After all, there probably weren't going to be that many spectators, as it wouldn't be taking place in a stadium, and all of his Pokemon were much stronger now. All that he could do would be to put his faith in his Pokemon and hope for the best. Staying up late would cause drowsiness and be a detriment to his mental state, but no matter how often he reminded himself of this, Tobias couldn't force himself into restfulness. It was long after the city's numerous Noctowl hooted twelve o'clock that he at last drifted into an uneasy slumber.

The next morning dawned brisk and bustling, as was often the case in the world-renown port city. Tobias awoke later than he had hoped to and hurriedly grabbed a couple of granola bars, a bottle of water, and four Pokemon food packets from the various vending machines in the Pokemon center. Though the center was not required to give out free breakfast like it was during the League season, its vending machines were always kept well-stocked. He recalled Jinx before leaving, deciding that a gathering of distracted people, many of which were liable to be carrying expensive, metallic electronic equipment and a Murkrow were probably a bad combination.

It was nearing seven in the morning by the time he had reached the lighthouse, which was already swarming with activity. Vendors had begun to set up their stalls along the wide street that led up to the towering building, and the shrewder businesspeople had opened their makeshift shops early, catering to the crowd of nervous trainers looking for any last-minute methods to train their Pokemon up to a surefire win in the tournament. Pokemon held items were available in their entire dazzling array, from the popular blackglasses to the mysterious berserk gene, a radio wave emitter of some sort tagged with the warning, "Danger! Pokemon behavior may become unpredictable and dangerous while this item is in use!" A few breeders had set up shop as well, and though the Pokemon for sale or order there would be useless in the upcoming fight, quite a few trainers perused the various stalls, muttering to themselves about bloodlines and credibility all the way. Less reputable goods traded hands in the alleyways branching off from the main causeway as money changed hands over bootlegged TM's and vitamins of questionable benefit.

Tobias had no eyes for the fascinating goods, his mind focused completely on making it to the tournament registration area before it was too late. He shoved past people watching attentively as a Devon Corporation representative demonstrated some of his company's recent inventions, including the new translator prototype. A Granbull stood next to him, cheerily greeting passerby in a low grumble overlaid by a tinny humanoid voice, "Graaa-morning, the…peas…nice weather…comma…by Professor Pinyon of Rustboro. Donations are…quart…program-bulllll." Though the system was clearly still in need of refinement, the trainers clustered around the booth were astounded by the idea that they might one day soon be able to understand their Pokemon word-for-word.

Tobias eventually found himself at the end of a line which snaked up to a registration booth set up outside of the lighthouse where trainers anxiously stood and awaited their turn to register. The nervous boys and girls fidgeted, occasionally peering around the person in front of them to see how far from the registration desk they were now, or perused battle manuals for last minute strategies. A few stood out from the crowd, however; cool and collected, most of them either stood and waited patiently or conversed with their Pokemon. Tobias was amongst the fidgeting group, constantly checking on the number of trainers before him in line. When he took his place, he guessed that there were about twenty in front of him, but he couldn't be sure. He hoped that his anxiety was causing him to count a few extra heads. Who knew how many had come before him, and how many more trainers would be accepted before the tournament registration closed?

At last Tobias was third to the front, then second, then finally he stood before the table and a harassed-looking gentleman who shoved a form and pen at him. He watched impatiently as Tobias filled the application out and snatched the paper back the instant that Tobias's pen lifted from its surface after he had filled out the last box. "Here, take your registration badge," the man commanded, tossing him a round pin. Tobias fumbled for it before catching it. "Go to the right along the table here until you reach the tent outside the lighthouse, all right? That's where you're going to hear the rules and get teamed up," the man added. "Next!"

Tobias was shoved out of the way by the overeager trainer behind him and automatically walked to the left, where a large white-and-red striped tent rose out of the chaos. Entering, Tobias found it to be filled with numerous long benches. Registered trainers reclined here, most having let their Pokemon out to give them a pre-tournament pep talk or to feed them. A small platform had been set up at the far end of the tent, the only item of note on it a podium. Tobias took a bench next to a distracted-looking boy wrestling with his Croconaw. The water-type was panicking, its jaws glued shut by a bit of sticky candy that its trainer had unwisely given it as a treat. Though the crocodilian creature's jaws could exert hundreds of pounds of force per square inch when biting down, the muscles that opened its mouth afterwards were quite weak, and its trainer was struggling to help despite its wildly flailing tail and arms.

Tobias released his Pokemon and reached for the Pokemon food that he had bought at the center. Igneous, Jinx, Chevron, and Accemenla materialized before him. _Ugh, these again,_Accemenla groaned as Tobias tore open a packet of food and handed it to her.

"Yeah, sorry, I didn't have much time this morning," Tobias replied apologetically. He offered another packet to Igneous, who accepted it distractedly. He munched on it absentmindedly, quietly taking in the scene around him. Chevron accepted his food with his typical good cheer, but Tobias caught Jinx eyeing the unattended bag of the trainer next to him. The boy had succeeded in getting his hands around his Pokemon's snout, trying to pry its jaws apart, and his last thought was of guarding his items. "Hey," Tobias said, prodding the Murkrow gently. "Stay here by me, all right?" he asked as Jinx turned around, annoyed.

Jinx crowed huffily, but Tobias shoved the last packet of food under his beak and he started eating amiably enough. Tobias unwrapped his own breakfast and bit into one of the granola bars while inspecting his registration badge that he had gotten. It was a simple circular pin with a registration number displayed prominently in a window on the front, as well as his name, which the registration attendant had copied from Tobias's form. There was also a white sticker affixed to the badge. Tobias had no idea what it was for. Shrugging, he pinned it to his jacket.

Tobias and his Pokemon finished eating and waited with mounting tension for the battle to start. Though time seemed to crawl to them, it was actually passing rapidly enough. At half past seven, the tournament was full and the registration booths closed. Within fifteen minutes, a man mounted the makeshift stage and stepped up to the microphone. Clearing his throat, he called for the participants' attention.

"Ah, now, that's better," the short, balding fellow said as a hush fell over his audience. "Welcome to the eighteenth annual Lighthouse Challenge here in Olivine City! As you may have guessed, our tournament is probably going to be a bit different than ones that you've participated in before.

"You may have noticed that your badge has a colored sticker on it. There are sixteen different colors, each one representing a different Pokemon type. Exactly five trainers received a badge of the same color as yours, for a total of eighty trainers participating. All other trainers with a sticker that matches yours are your allies; before the tournament begins, you will be grouped with the four other members of your team. These people will be your friends and allies throughout the battles in the lighthouse, but in the end you will compete against one another to move on to the final round.

"Each level of the lighthouse has been set up to provide a series of obstacles, culminating in a battle against a top local trainer referred to as a floor guardian. The battles that you will participate in are melee fights-each trainer on a team may use one Pokemon, while the floor guardian will use five Pokemon at once. Working together, the team must strive to overcome their opponent. No Pokemon substitutions will be allowed on either side. A team that loses against a floor guardian is disqualified, and any trainer reduced to zero Pokemon loses and is eliminated. A judge will be present at each final match to ensure that no rules are broken and that Pokemon are not put in jeopardy by the unique battle conditions.

"There are six levels to the lighthouse. Any and all teams that reach the top will move on to the next stage of battling, in which team members will face each other in three-on-three battles to determine the team leader. The team leaders will then face off to determine the final winner of the tournament.

"No Pokemon may be healed during the first portion of the tournament. Your Pokemon will then be healed for each match versus your teammates and the leaders of opposing team. No trainer may use more than three Pokemon, and no items other than held items are allowed. To prevent cheating in this regard, trainers are required to check their bags and additional Pokeballs at the lighthouse entrance. Teams will enter the lighthouse one by one. Now, the first team to enter is the Bug Team! All trainers with a light green sticker, please report to me for the beginning of your challenge!"

Tobias recalled his Pokemon in anticipation of being called soon. The boy next to him had succeeded in prying the Croconaw's mouth open to remove the offending candy. The Pokemon was now growling at him in reprimand. Tobias spotted a glimpse of the trainer's badge, which bore a gray sticker. Not on his team, then, Tobias realized with relief.

The noise level in the tent swelled once more as trainers discussed the impending challenge with their friends or Pokemon, nervous laughter breaking out in occasional bursts. Tobias had to admit, it sounded like quite an elaborate and unique tournament to hold. He guessed that there was probably some reason for its complexity, but he figured that he'd find out eventually what that was.

At last, the announcer called out, "Team Ghost! Team Ghost is the next one up! All trainers with a white sticker, please report to the stage now."

Tobias practically leapt up, darting around benches and the occasional gaggle of standing trainers to reach the platform. Three other trainers had already gathered there, two girls and one boy. They eyed Tobias nervously at the same time that he appraised them. While it was clear that you wanted to have a strong team in order to do well in the challenge, it was equally important that your comrades not be too terribly powerful, lest they defeat you in the later rounds.

The first girl appeared aloof and withdrawn. She was one of those that appeared unruffled by the tournament proceedings. Her blue eyes were unfocused and the fingers of her left hand absently traced the top of a greatball clipped to her belt. She had come dressed for a tournament as well, Tobias noted. A Hoenn League sweatshirt proudly proclaimed her origin while her jeans indicated that she was probably not intending to venture out into the wilderness; jeans were a notoriously bad choice for hikers and trainers alike due to their uncanny ability to hold water but not heat.

The short, red-haired girl next to her was perhaps the exact opposite. She wrung her hands nervously, eyes darting back and forth around the ring of her teammates. Her red curls framed a worried countenance, and she was apparently another trainer that had woken up a bit late, if her inside-out t-shirt was any indication.

The boy was rather pudgy, but his brown eyes were intelligent and calculating. His backpack bristled with gadgets, and he probably wouldn't have been out of place at a Pokemon technological convention. His Pokeballs were clipped, almost as an afterthought, next to a Pokenav and, Tobias was impressed to note, one of the new Vs. Seeker devices.

The last member of the group burst into the circle red-faced and out of breath. "I'm here, I'm here," he gasped. His black hair was in disarray, and he was stooped beneath the weight of a bulging backpack.

"All right, then, follow me," the announcer commanded, and the group fell into step behind him as he exited the tent and led them to the door of the lighthouse. A group of Magneton hovered solemnly near the entrance, emotionless eyes observing the approaching humans without much interest. A group of five volunteers intercepted the announcer and Team Ghost, each singling out a trainer and leading him or her off to the side to relinquish their baggage and extra Pokeballs.

Tobias handed woman who stopped him his pack, into which he had shoved Chevron's Pokeball. Tobias had agonized for quite some time over which Pokemon to leave out. Eventually, he decided that Igneous needed the experience more and if he left Accemenla out he'd never hear the end of it. The woman reached into a pocket and withdrew a tag which she tied to one of the straps of Tobias's backpack. Squinting, she copied Tobias's name and registration number before handing his property to a Kadabra which had been lurking near her feet. The psychic-type teleported it into storage, and Tobias was given clearance to go forward. The team reassembled before the entrance.

"All right, everyone's clear on the rules, right?" the announcer asked. Nods from all sides answered him. "Well, good luck, then. I hope to see you in the final rounds." He strode forward and threw open the door to the lighthouse. Tobias couldn't see anything of the interior, but the team started forward excitedly, only to be cut off by a harsh bleep.

The Magneton that had emitted the noise swooped in to hover next to the chubby boy, three eyes fixed accusingly on him.

"Ah, sir, I'm afraid that you're going to have to turn out your pockets," the announcer said, somewhat apologetically. "You've tripped the metal detector."

The boy flushed and did so, searching his person until he found a spare battery that had ended up in one of his cargo pants pockets. The instant that it was in sight, the Magneton confiscated it, increasing its magnetic pull ability and causing the offending object to fly out of the surprised boy's hand to stick to one of its metallic "heads" with a sharp clank. It floated back to its original post, and Team Ghost started forward once more, if a bit more apprehensively. No further obstruction barred their path, however, and they filed into the lighthouse.

It was pitch black within the building, and Tobias stopped a few feet in, disconcerted. His teammates did likewise, halting and shooting each other confused glances. What was with the lights? Suddenly, the door behind them swung shut with a smug click, plunging the group into complete darkness.


	27. Uncertainty

Author's Notes: Well, I'm back from vacation and able to post this thing at last. I was initially planning to get all of the way through level four of the lighthouse in this one but, yeah, that didn't really happen.

Good job, Act. All of what you guessed on for the fragment is correct. Still doesn't make much sense without the stuff around it, though…

Well, Yammer (if you happen to read this far,) I chose to leave the extraneous apostrophe on for all human names, and take it off for Pokemon names. Since some of the Pokemon in later chapters have human names that end in "s," I thought it would make it slightly easier to identify them as Pokemon if I used slightly different punctuation with them.

Well, Yellowspottedlizard, I'd think that Pokemon number three is Jinx, as he was the whole reason Tobias went looking for the tournament in the first place.

You will be seeing quite a bit more of Igneous this chapter and in the future, Cedric. He's a difficult one to characterize, as he's a quiet sort of fellow to begin with, and he tends to stay inside his Pokeball, as he dislikes water and has the unfortunate tendency to set things on fire when he gets excited. As for Accemenla…she's experienced in the matter concealing her emotions. We'll just have to see if she slips up again.

Oh, yes, Accemenla knows lots of stuff, WindieDragon. I also like the new pictures you've done, especially the updated Whispo and Demsindar. Very nice!

I've done that before, Keleri. I then spent the next chapter trying to figure out why I couldn't figure out why I couldn't what was going on. It was very surreal. The off-season is just a pet idea of mine. The trainers must presumably have to go to school sometime, right?

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Uncertainty**

At first there, was only complete, stunned silence as the darkness enveloped Team Ghost. The disorienting gloom was so complete that the five trainers soon forgot where they were in relationship to their partners, only retaining a vague notion that the doorway was somewhere a few feet behind. In a rush, the five suddenly began to talk all at once, jabbering in a hopeless attempt to fill up the empty murk and to reassure themselves that they were not alone.

"Quiet," barked one voice. It held an undeniable note of authority, and the four other trainers quickly fell silent, having unanimously selected their leader without even being sure of who it was. "It won't do any good to just stand here and panic. Do any of you here have Pokemon that know flash, or that can otherwise light this place up?"

There were a couple of murmurs of assent, and Tobias himself felt for his belt. Igneous always glowed in the dark; while he probably wouldn't shed much light to see by, at least the warm luminescence of his flame-patterned body would be a reassuring beacon. He tossed the Magmar's Pokeball to the unseen floor, hearing it clack against stone tile. It and two others burst open, temporarily illuminating the area with a flare of white brilliance. All of the watching trainers winced and recoiled from the sudden stab of light, screwing up their eyes in pain. Igneous and two of his new teammates resolved, and the harsh white burst of light was replaced by a steady red glow from the Magmar. Igneous' faint radiance illuminated the surrounding area slightly, allowing Tobias to see indistinct silhouettes of his new teammates.

"Flash!" two voices called in unison, and the other Pokemon, whom Tobias could not yet identify, as they were only skulking specters near the edge of Igneous' light, obliged. This time, the humans wisely covered their eyes as another blast of radiance assailed them.

When Tobias worked up the courage to squint cautiously at the new light sources that had appeared in front of him, he found them to be another Magneton and a Butterfree. The Magneton's three staring eyes had lit up, each casting a sort of floodlight out into the darkness. The Buterfree, on the other hand, stood out against the blackness like a luminescent ghost. By psychically exciting the fine scales that lined its wings, it created an eerie pale glow.

Tobias could now see the nervous faces hovering in a ring around the three light-producing Pokemon. The deep shadows cast by the dim light etched their faces in odd silhouette, emphasizing the worried lines and tense expressions that graced them. Only one seemed perfectly at ease, that of the tall, blonde-haired girl. It became apparent as she issued her next command that she had been the one to speak earlier. "Right. We might as well get the introductions done now while we've got a bit of time. I'm Cass from Slateport."

"Chris from Lavender," piped up the boy who had been late to meet the rest of his team. He gave a quick, shy smile, and then looked expectantly at the boy next to him.

"George," the chubby boy announced. "I'm from Cerulean."

"I'm Jenny, and I'm from Verdanturf," the red-haired girl said. She was the one who had released the Butterfree, apparently, as it drifted over to her in a fond sort of way.

It was a second before Tobias realized that it was his turn to speak. All four of his teammates were staring at him expectantly, and he flushed slightly as he announced, "I'm Thomas and I'm from, uh, Waytar."

"Waytar? Where the heck is that?" George asked.

"It's…I don't really know, actually," Tobias replied lamely. Fortunately for him, Cass took control of the situation once more and steered the conversation away from his past and back onto the more pressing matter of the tournament at hand.

"All right, that's enough for now, I think. I've been in this tournament before, you see," she explained, "and whether or not they mention it in the official rules, it's more or less timed. You don't show up for the final match in time, you're considered lost and disqualified. If you fancy chatting, I suggest you do it while on the move."

"Wait a minute, which way do we go?" Chris asked.

"Straight ahead, of course. What, you think they're going to hide the exit right behind you, the way we came in?" Cass snapped sarcastically. "Come on."

"No, I was just asking…" Chris said meekly. Tobias felt a twinge of dislike for the haughty girl; there was no call to be rude like that.

The group moved forward, George sending his Magneton up to the front to illuminate the path ahead, with Igneous and the Butterfree traveling near the center to keep the team itself lit up. It was a short, silent trudge to the first obstacle.

The obstacle, on the other hand, was far from silent. Team Ghost tramped along in a more or less orderly fashion, not encountering any problems with the terrain, which was, after all, just the cold tiled floor of the lighthouse. It was George who noticed it first, giving a very unflattering squeal as a Golbat of generous proportions swooped down on him from above, gaping maw open to its fullest as it shrieked with malicious pleasure. Suddenly, the air was full of darting, screeching shapes ranging from numerous small, agile Zubat to a single fierce Crobat. The cave Pokemon slammed into trainers and Pokemon alike, fanged mouths searching for a chance to latch onto their foes. All five trainers, forgetting pride, scattered unceremoniously, swatting wildly at the air and yelling out orders to their Pokemon. George shrieked for his Magneton to use thunderbolt, and the air was rent with an ominous crackle and the smell of ozone as the emotionless Pokemon focused the electromagnetic current pulsing throughout its body, unperturbed by the chaos surrounding it.

As one, the bat Pokemon went silent, rising up towards the unseen ceiling of the room. Tobias felt an odd sensation, a vague unpleasantness. Bizarrely, it seemed to him that his teeth were vibrating. Suddenly, he realized what was happening--the Pokemon had used a supersonic attack.

While humans couldn't hear the disorienting pulse of noise that the swarm was generating, it was perfectly audible to their Pokemon. Jenny's Butterfree's light flickered out as it was distracted by the grating screech registering through its vibrating antennae. Igneous clutched his fiery temples and the Magneton, three brains completely disoriented and confused by the blast of noise from all sides, panicked and sent out a wild arc of electricity. The powerful discharge crackled out in all directions, striking one Golbat down and only very narrowly missing Chris. He yelped and jumped back as the deadly bolt leapt past him.

The bat swarm, daunted by the loss of one of its comrades, took to flight, vanishing into the darkness once more. The groggy Golbat that had fallen to the ground slowly heaved itself back onto its slender feet and, with a few heavy flaps, launched itself into the air once more and joined its brethren in retreat.

It took a couple more minutes for the chaos to settle after that. The five members of Team Ghost were now quite separated, and, it appeared, at least one had encountered a cleverly concealed trap in the darkness. There was a thud and a curse as Cass, who had ended up far from the light of the Pokemon, tripped over or into something. Tobias himself was stranded, and he very cautiously walked back to the rest of the group, stepping forward as carefully as he could.

Jenny's Butterfree recovered sufficiently to relight its wings, and Magneton's three component Magnemite had apparently reached some sort of agreement over hierarchy once more. It floated smoothly over next to Igneous, who was rubbing his head gingerly. He had taken a score from the Crobat's teeth right across the odd lumps that rose out of his skull, though in the process he gave the swarm leader a nasty burn from the twin tongues of flame bursting free of the his skin.

It was soon revealed that Cass had not, in fact, tripped over something intentionally planted in their path to impede them, but rather over herself, so to speak. Her left leg was numb and stiff, having been doused by the paralyzing saliva of a low-flying Golbat. Keeping up a steady stream of curses beneath her breath, she limped slowly over to her comrades, now in a nervous huddle once more as they awaited her. "I thought you said you'd done this before," George said accusingly. "Why didn't you say something about the bats?"

"Idiot, they change the layout every year," Cass snarled. "Last year the first floor was a maze."

For a few more moments, they simply stood in irresolute silence, Cass massaging her leg to try to stimulate its nerves into response once more. "Well, we're not getting much done just standing around here like this," Jenny pointed out at length. "We should probably get going."

The rest muttered assent, and they set out again slowly, even more watchful than before. Once again, nothing barred their path until Chris suddenly stopped in his tracks, turning bug-eyed as he stared out into the darkness that closed in behind the group's small oasis of light. "Uhh, guys, I think I heard something," he gulped nervously, backing further into the circle of illumination.

Team Ghost huddled together instinctively, hearts pounding as they stared out into the impenetrable blackness around them. Even Cass seemed somewhat affected by the statement, though she was the first to discount it. "Oh, come on. There's nothing out there. Stop jumping at shadows."

"There is something out there!" Chris said resolutely. "I heard it! I swear!"

"Well, if it's out there, would you prefer to stand still and wait for it to come to you, or would you rather get as far as you could towards the other end of the level before it attacked?"

"Well, other end, I guess…" the boy admitted finally.

"Right. Let's move," Cass barked. Her leg was almost completely restored to function at this point, and she stomped ahead irritably. Reluctantly, her teammates followed, still throwing anxious glances back over their shoulders. Reports that something was "skittering around out there" or that "there are eyes just back that way--look!" were ignored as Cass drove them forward angrily.

Even Cass was forced to notice the mysterious stalkers when an Umbreon lunged from the shadows and latched onto Jenny's ankle. She screamed and kicked it away, but as it was flung backwards six more Pokemon bounded forward. Suddenly, the outlying space was full of gleaming eyes and snarls as the mishmash pack of Pokemon attacked the small band of trainers. "Don't turn and face them!" Cass yelled from the front, an area not currently beset by the creatures. "Come on, the end has to be close now! Use your Pokemon to hold them off!"

Tobias didn't even take the time to see what burst from the four Pokeballs hurled to the ground by his teammates before he took Cass's advice and dashed forward. A Sneasel landed neatly in the space that he had just vacated, hissing viciously at being thwarted before being distracted by a forceful jet of water that sent it reeling backward. Tobias himself didn't release any of his Pokemon; a lot of the attackers seemed to be dark-types, so Accemenla would be next to useless, and he didn't want Jinx getting knocked out before he even got to the first real battle.

The five trainers beat as hasty a retreat as they could manage, their Pokemon covering them and falling back slowly. Tobias wondered vaguely why the vicious Pokemon pack wasn't surrounding them; though they worried at the trainer's flanks and rear viciously, their path forward was mysteriously clear. Why didn't they just cut the trainers off and trap them?

Less than five seconds later, Tobias ran head-on into the reason why. It seemed he had walked into a net strung from floor to ceiling, thick cords hanging perpendicular to the ground. He struggled to pull himself free so that he could keep running, only to find that he couldn't. The net was sticky and clung to him all the more fiercely as he struggled, only succeeding in entangling himself more firmly. _What sort of crazy net has sticky ropes? _Tobias thought wildly as he thrashed around. Suddenly, he paused, terrible realization creeping over him like an icy wave. "Igneous!" he bawled, "Igneous, get over here and help me out! Hurry!"

Igenous and the two other light-giving Pokemon had been forced to join their comrades in the fray, depriving their trainers of illumination. The humans hadn't thought that this would be a problem, as this level of the challenge seemed to be about Pokemon threats as opposed to inanimate obstacles. _Probably just what they were counting on, _Tobias thought bitterly. Igneous dutifully turned away from the fighting and dashed over to his guide's call. Seeing him caught in the massive spider web, Igneous pulled up uncertainly. How was he supposed to get his guide out without hurting him?

"Come on, Igneous," Tobias pleaded, straining to turn his head from side to side, eyes scanning the indistinct gloom in terror. Where was the spider? "Just burn through the ropes."

The Magmar stepped closer uncertainly, tentatively raising a hand towards a silken strand just to the left of Tobias's torso. It withered and disintegrated an inch from his hand as the heat radiating from his skin struck it. He couldn't do that to the web that was right next to Tobias or directly stuck to him; it would burn him, too. Igneous was too riled to properly control his body temperature. A couple minutes of forced relaxation would allow him to regain his composure enough to do so, but they didn't have that much time; the threads of the web were shivering ominously, its resident coming to check on its catch.

Cries resounded from the surrounding area as other team members found themselves similarly trapped. Meanwhile, the attacking Pokemon vanished as mysteriously as they had arrived, melting silently back into the shadows and disappearing without a trace. The trained Pokemon halted, staring back and forth at one another in confusion. Their trainer's cries soon jolted them back to reality, however, and they darted away to see to their human companions. Igneous dithered uncertainly, watching with growing anxiety as the web's wobbling grew more pronounced.

"What's the matter, Igneous?" Tobias asked, sounding terrified. He, too had noticed the web's movement. "Just burn me out of here, please."

Igneous's eyes apprehensively traveled up over Tobias's head where the web extended to the invisible ceiling and from which the Pokemon responsible for its creation was traveling. Suddenly, the Magmar had an idea. Reaching forward, he concentrated on his most powerful attack, the fire punch. With desperate determination, he was able to coax the wreath of flames that encircled his clenched fist to extend outwards, forming a sort of flaming sword attached to his hand. He swept it through the strands of webbing above Tobias's head. The boy fell to the ground heavily, his legs and arms enmeshed by the deadly silken cords. Igneous hastily cut the strands connecting him to the rest of the web on the left and right. Now all that was left was to deal with the strands still stuck to Tobias.

At this point, the web's now-furious guardian made her presence known by spitting a gobbet of foul, poisonous liquid at the annoying Magmar below. Much of the attack sizzled away into nothing in the air just above his head, but the rest struck him forcefully, causing him to step back in surprise, only to bellow with pain as the caustic chemicals ate into his skin and the Crobat bite that he had received earlier. His concentration shattered, his modified fire punch hiccupped and died. The Ariados, satisfied, leapt down to finish the job with her poisonous fangs.

She screeched as one of the Magmar's now-flailing arms smacked her abdomen as she fell, knocking her off course and leaving a burn on her tender underside. She crashed heavily to the floor, tucking her legs in and rolling painfully to bump up against the still-struggling human's body. He was working quickly, and had almost freed his upper body from the remains of her web. She could fix that. She extended her legs and spun around, mandibles wide. She was suddenly struck by a fiery punch from the side, which slammed into one of her spindly knees. Legs buckling beneath her, she was swatted away from the human. The Magmar had run to protect his trainer, and was now charging at her grimly.

Too late, the Ariados realized that she had made a grave mistake in challenging the fire-type. He had an elemental advantage against her, and was clearly more skilled at fighting than she had originally assumed. Perhaps, though, there was still a chance for her to incapacitate him enough for her to escape. She raised her head and unloaded another sludge bomb at his chest, striking him squarely. He fell back, doubling over in pain, the toxic liquid coating his red skin hissing and bubbling as it boiled away. Hastily, she heaved herself back onto her six legs and scuttled away into the shadows, middle leg on the right dragging uselessly across the tiles, each step jarring it and sending pains shooting through the Ariados' torso to complement the throbbing burn across her bulbous abdomen.

Igneous decided not to pursue the bloated spider. He was more concerned with Tobias, who had struggled into a sitting position and was now working diligently to remove the remainder of the web from his legs. He succeeded in freeing one of his feet enough to use it to scrape away at his bonds, peeling away the sticky silk away with his hands. At last, he was able to stand and move freely, and he scanned the area, searching for the other members of his team. He caught sight of the Magneton hovering not too far distant and hurried over to it--and almost straight into another web. He noticed it at the last second by the way Igneous' faint glow caused the thick strands to glisten in the air before him. Stopping short, he and carefully skirted the web with Igneous in tow, weaving between several of the dangerous traps on the way to the Magneton. By this point it had seen them and turned its spotlight-like eyes in their direction.

When the two reached it, they found George on the ground nearby, struggling with a veritable cocoon of webbing. A Primeape stood over him, doing its best to peel the web back and away. The Primeape apparently belonged to Chris, who was encouraging it while trying to comb webbing out of his hair with his fingers. Tobias went over to help the Primeape and Igneous, exhausted, sat down on the tile for a minute to rest. At last George had been liberated, and the trio of trainers and their Pokemon carefully sought out the rest of their teammates.

Jenny didn't prove hard to find, as her Butterfree soon glowed once more. She was now accompanied by a Nidoqueen that had easily torn her free of the spider web and then gone off to aid Cass, who was remonstrating a guilty-looking Pokemon the likes of which Tobias had never seen. It hovered slightly above the ground on two large wings, which sported an intimidating pattern that put Tobias in mind of large, predatory eyes. Four paddle-like feet hung down below its slim body, the front pair currently rubbing at the Pokemon's face in an attempt to remove a strand of spider web yet clinging to its head. From what Tobias heard of Cass's conversation with it, it had panicked during the battle against the wild pack of Pokemon, fleeing from the fight with its trainer--and straight into a web with her. Tobias wished that his Pokedex hadn't been taken from him; not only would it be useful in identifying such unfamiliar Pokemon as this, but it might be able to give him hints as to how to deal with certain situations, such as being stuck in an Ariados' web. Which, of course, was probably the whole reason that it had been confiscated in the first place.

Now that all five members of Team Ghost were back together, Cass decided, after she was done with her Pokemon, that it would be a good time to spend a minute regrouping. "Is anybody out there badly hurt?" she asked, peering around at the shadowy forms of her comrades. After a quick checkup, it was determined that no one was seriously injured, though quite a few sported bruises and scratches as a result of their current adventures.

"Well, I did get bitten by that Umbreon," Jenny reminded the group in a shaky voice. "It's not bad, I mean, it doesn't really hurt or anything, but…you know…Umbreon can use toxic so maybe it might have gotten infected or something…"

"I don't think that they would have us face something like that, especially not on the first level," Cass said dismissively. "They don't want to kill us, after all; just knock us out of the running." A short, uncomfortable silence followed this statement. Tobias thought uneasily that the challenges they had faced so far hadn't seemed constructed with their safety in mind. After all, that Ariados…she hadn't looked like she would have had any problems seriously injuring him. Still, out of all those Pokemon that had attacked, only one had actually gotten through and landed a significant hit on one of the trainers, and that was the Umbreon.

The trainers' Pokemon were another story. Igneous had large chemical burns on his chest and head, in addition to the Crobat bite. Tobias thought it a wonder that he hadn't been poisoned by his repeated exposure to sludge bombs, especially when the noxious missiles had struck over open wounds. Butterfree now sported one torn wing, and she labored hard to keep herself airborne, exhaustedly fluttering down to rest on Jenny's head every couple of minutes. Cass's Pokemon, which she referred to as a "Masquerian," was similarly fragile and had sustained severe damage to his lower body. Yellowish ichor oozed ominously from the cracks that crept across the surface of his normally blue carapace, the bug wincing whenever he was forced to move that particular section of his body. The other Pokemon had taken only minor damage but were clearly as unnerved as their trainers, apprehensively peering into the darkness and wondering just what was going to leap out at them next.

"This is not good," Cass moaned, burying her head in her hands. "This is only the _first level! _All of our Pokemon have to last at least two levels, and we can't heal them until we're all the way done…"

"Actually, I think we can," Chris said. He reached to his belt and pulled off a Pokeball. He tossed it to the ground, and the Pokemon that emerged from it was a welcome, familiar sight to all of the trainers present.

"Bliiiissssiiii!" the cheerful pink Pokemon chirped. "Ssey, bliss, blissey!"

"Since Beth knows softboiled, she can use it to heal all of your Pokemon. It will cost her some health, but if she uses it on herself afterwards, she can gain some of it back," Chris explained.

"We'll need to conserve softboileds for the Pokemon that are the most hurt. For now, let's stick to my Masquerian, the Magmar, and the Butterfree," Cass said decisively. The Blissey looked to her trainer for approval of the idea. He nodded slowly, accepting the logic of Cass's decision. Beth was only too happy to comply; she, like most of her species, loved to spread cheer and joy. She darted over to each of the ailing Pokemon, offering it an egg from the small pouch that sprouted from her stomach, or where Tobias guessed her stomach would be, if the blobby pink Pokemon had any clear divisions between the different sections of her body. The nutritious eggs were replaced almost instantly, another one appearing in Beth's pouch by the time she had taken the first one out and handed it off to an injured teammate. As the Pokemon ate their eggs, a remarkable change swept over them, their wounds closing in seconds and their energy increasing dramatically, as if by magic. When Beth had distributed an egg to each of the designated Pokemon, Chris told her to have one herself. Tobias found it slightly disturbing to see the Blissey happily consume an egg that she had produced mere moments earlier, but she didn't seem to have any problem with it, and she looked much better afterward, her vitality restored. Chris recalled her, saying that he would prefer to have her stay out of fights as long as possible so that they could be sure she would be around to heal their Pokemon on later levels.

At last, it looked like they were ready to move out again. All but the light-producing Pokemon were returned to their Pokeballs, and Team Ghost set out, weaving around the deadly spider webs that were suspended all around them. Each trainer silently wondered how long it would be until the level was finally over, until the challenge was finally over, and prayed that it would be soon. Magneton was now employed in sweeping its eyes back and forth across the area in front of the group, illuminating any spider webs hanging in their path so that they could be avoided. Igneous had taken up the position of rearguard, padding quietly along at the tail end of the column, while Butterfree kept watch from above. Before long, they seemed to have passed the last of the webs, reemerging into empty darkness. This was almost more disheartening than wending their way through a spider-infested area; Team Ghost had been sincerely wishing that the level would come to an end after their trial by spider.

Suddenly, lights came up all around them, blazing with an intensity that easily put to shame the illumination provided by their Pokemon. All five trainers squinted painfully against the penetrating glare, tears springing up in their slitted eyes. It seemed that they had come to the end of the first floor, after all; once their eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, they found themselves standing at a boundary line encircling an overlarge battle arena. A tall, imposing man stood at the other end of the flat field, hands folded across his chest as he surveyed the disheveled teenagers clustered fearfully across the open expanse from him. He was half-hidden by the shadows that lurked outside the arena's boundaries, an effect which only added to the trainers' unease.

"Congratulations," the man boomed. "You have nearly completed your first challenge, the challenge of darkness. For you see, when humans first came to settle in this region of Johto, they found nothing but deep, wild forest and angry, storm-tossed ocean. They faced the unknown much as you were forced to face it in this level of the lighthouse. I am your final test. Beyond me is the passage up to the second level. Choose your Pokemon wisely, and prepare for battle."

For a second Team Ghost merely dithered about on their side of the field, the five trainers glancing nervously at one another and toying uncertainly with the Pokeballs at their waists. What sort of Pokemon should they choose for this fight? Only Cass had ever engaged in a five-on-five battle before, and she was currently lost in thought, trying to decide whether to lead with her weakest Pokemon or try to sweep through the easier levels with one of her stronger fighters. Finally, George took the initiative and shouted, "I choose Magneton!" in as imposing a voice as he could muster. The metal Pokemon, which had been lurking behind him, floated out into the light, its own glow extinguished.

Furious that she had, to her mind, been outdone by George, whom she clearly regarded as a threat to her position as leader, Cass quickly commanded, "All right, it's up to you, Masquerian." She tossed the bug's Pokeball into the arena and it burst excitedly into the open once more, looking much better after its softboiled treatment.

"Peter, I choose you," Chris said, releasing his Primeape. _He certainly seems to have a thing about naming Pokemon after people, _Tobias thought. _Peter the Primeape? Beth the Blissey? Seems pretty stupid to me._

"Go on, Butterfree," Jenny encouraged. Butterfree flapped reluctantly forward, wary of injuring her fragile wings once again.

Tobias realized that he was only one who had yet to choose his Pokemon. Without really thinking he said, "Igneous, you're up."

His Magmar obediently strode forward. The floor master, meanwhile, was carefully sizing up his opponents' team. He plucked five Pokeballs from his own belt and tossed them into the arena, with the simple command of "Go." The five balls burst open as one, resulting in a cascade of brilliant white light that resolved in an unusual array of Pokemon, ranging from a diminutive Jigglypuff to a hulking Ursaring.

A judge stepped out of the shadows from where he had been lurking off to the right of the arena. Raising his flags, one red, one green, he announced, "The battle between Floor Master Thorn and Team Ghost will now commence!"

The ten Pokemon ran for one another, the two teams colliding in a sudden maelstrom of furious action. At first, Tobias couldn't even figure out what was going on. All that he could see was a mad tangle of flailing limbs, crackling sparks, and leaping flames. To his left and right he could hear his companions shouting out orders and egging their fighters on. _How do they do that? I can't even _see _Igneous, much less have any idea what he's up to or what I should be telling him to do._

Meanwhile, Floor Master Thorn was barking orders at a rapid pace, trying to keep track of all five of his Pokemon at once. "Jigglypuff, start up a rollout and hit whatever's in range, but focus on the Masquerian if you can. Girafarig, Yanma, team up on that Primeape and see if you can't bring him down. Ursaring, get in there and stop the Magneton; he's got Skarmory under magnet pull and he can't escape. Skarmory, just do whatever you need to get away from that Magmar!"

The mention of Igneous brought Tobias back to the battle with a jolt. Tearing his eyes away from the floor master, he peered once again into the fray. Now at least he knew what he was looking for. Igneous would be by the Skarmory…and the Magneton, too, and--there! Butterfree fluttered aside to avoid a wildly careening Jigglypuff, and Tobias caught a glimpse of his partner, who was landing punch after blazing punch on Skarmory's metal hide.

For his part, Igneous was enjoying himself immensely. The general chaos of the five-on-five battle was heady, and while it did mean that an attack could come from any direction, his opponents had learned quickly to stay as far away from him as possible. The lumbering and somewhat clumsy Ursaring had demonstrated why early on when he accidentally blundered into the Magmar, coming away from the encounter with a large, painful burn across his broad stomach.

Of course, Igneous' opponents, in general, didn't have his kind of natural protection, so they were liable to be distracted by his teammates. Not only that, but Igneous was free to choose which Pokemon to engage, and so naturally sought out one that would be at a disadvantage against him. He had of course zeroed in on the Skarmory at the battle's outset. Magneton, seeing that there was a steel-type on the field, drifted in the metal bird's direction as well, and employed his magnet pull ability to ensnare him.

Igneous was faring well against the Skarmory, repeatedly smashing fire punches into his normally unyielding steel body. Under the heat of the Magmar's attacks, however, metal feathers sloughed away as the Skarmory's metal body began to melt grotesquely wherever one of Ingeous' blows struck. Though the Skarmory lunged angrily after Igneous with its wicked, razor sharp beak, the Magmar dodged the blow easily. As Magneton was floating behind the bird, Skarmory was naturally pulled in his direction. The attractive force of magnet pull was so great that Skarmory had to strain against it to get at Igneous, and his attacks were slow and clumsy as a result. Sensing that Igneous had the Skarmory under control, Magneton turned his attentions upon Yanma instead, hurling powerful thunderbolts after the small insect.

"Igneous! Finish off the Skarmory and then help Butterfree with the Girafarig!" Tobias's voice was barely audible over the crackle of electricity and the indistinct snarls and cries echoing around the arena. Igneous paused, confused, and turned uncertainly back in the direction from which the sound had come, not entirely sure that he had heard it at all. Up until now, he had really felt as though he was battling alone, without a human trainer to look after him. It was rather fun, actually, if a bit more dangerous and messy as a result.

His inattention earned him a wound from the Skarmory. The metal bird at last succeeded in seizing the Magmar's arm with its beak, twisting its head so that it ripped deep into his flesh. Igneous roared angrily, spinning back around and dealing Skarmory a blow to the face. He let go with a shriek of pain, molten metal dribbling down over his left eye. Igneous took advantage of its distraction by following up with another punch to his midriff, and was rewarded as the metal bird's legs gave way, the judge declaring it too injured to continue. His foe dissolved in a cloud of crimson energy, and Igneous turned around to survey the rest of the battle and consider his options.

For a moment, he was tempted to go after Ursaring next. The brown bearlike Pokemon seemed to be under control, however, prevented from reaching Magneton by Peter the Primeape. As Igneous watched, the ape gave a powerful kick to the normal-type's stomach--directly into the burn that it had received earlier. Igneous winced sympathetically as Ursaring groaned, doubling over in pain. In the Magmar's opinion, that was a rather dirty tactic.

"The Girafarig, Igneous! Use fire punch on the Girafarig!" Igneous realized that he had simply been standing there on the battlefield with the fight raging all around him. Tobias's voice, with the help of the Jigglypuff, which went whizzing by dangerously close to his head, jolted him back into the moment.

He responded to Tobias's order without thinking, having grown accustomed to battling with the aid of a trainer in the three months or so that he had known Tobias. Butterfree and Girafarig were sparring slightly off to one side of the main fray, and Igneous' fist became encased in flames as he charged towards them. Girafarig didn't see him coming, being wholly occupied with his opponent. Butterfree was sending wave after wave of sleep-inducing spores at the psychic-type. This particular Girafarig, however, was apparently gifted with the "early bird" ability, as it would give into drowsiness for a few seconds at best before clawing its way back to consciousness and attacking the butterfly with renewed vigor, apparently angry that he had fallen for he trick.

Igneous' fire punch announced his presence adequately enough, however. Girafarig staggered back in surprise, confusion, and pain, but quickly recovered, rounding on him with fury gleaming in its eyes.

Unfortunately, Igneous wasn't coherent enough to recognize the effect of his attack, as it had sent him straight into the cloud of sleep powder that the Butterfree had blown at Girafarig. The Magmar was far more susceptible to its effects than its intended target, however. The sounds of battle seemed to diminish to a sort of gentle rumbling, the language of volcanoes which Igneous found comforting. As his vision blurred and his eyelids drooped, Igneous was only vaguely aware of Tobias's voice, which sounded even softer and farther away than before, and Igneous couldn't make out the words. Girafarig advanced on Igneous, but the Magmar didn't particularly care. In fact, he was already asleep, dozing quietly in place, completely unaware of his opponent until it executed the confusion attack that the floor master hastily called for.

Igneous was rudely brought back to consciousness by a painful impact. There was an anguished chirp from somewhere beneath him and a terrible crunch, and the Magmar's eyes snapped open in shock and horror. The Girafarig had vindictively used his psychic powers to hurl Igneous straight into Cass's Masquerian. Igneous felt a horrible trickle of ichor down his back as the insect struggled to free itself from his protruding back spines, which had been driven into his body as Igneous' weight bore him to the ground. Even before the judge called, "Masquerian has been eliminated!" Cass had recalled her fallen Pokemon, clearly furious.

The Girafarig grinned nastily at Igneous, only to stagger sideways as the enraged Butterfree unleashed a gust attack at him. The bizarre giraffe-like Pokemon lashed out with a stomp, but Butterfree evaded it and sent another blast of wind at her opponent. Igneous got back his feet slowly, seething with rage. It seemed to him that he was _always _the one that was inadvertently injuring friends or teammates. Why did he always have to be the one to give Chevron a playful shove and then get a lecture later as the Linoone was being treated for severe burns? Why did he have to be the one that people stood a careful, if polite, distance away from, lest their clothing become singed or worse? It just wasn't fair, and now this stupid Girafarig had thought to go and take advantage of him like that!

Blindly, Igneous lunged forward and pummeled Girafarig with blazing punches and the occasional kick, deaf to its wheezing cries as it tried to throw him back with another confusion. Butterfree prevented this by breaking his concentration with regular gusts of wind, equally angry at his tactics. At last he succumbed, blistered and battered, and was recalled.

Yanma had recently been brought down by a carefully aimed thunderbolt from Magneton who, growing tired of the bug's constant darting and weaving, had taken the time to lock on to her energy signature in order to improve its accuracy. Peter had long since felled Ursaring and was currently chasing after the last of the opponents, the wildly gyrating Jigglypuff. The rolling pink ball of fury was only able to stay a couple of feet ahead of the ape, but every now and then she would reverse direction suddenly, bouncing up off the floor and sailing through Peter's outstretched arms to smack him squarely in the face. Each time the monkey Pokemon was sent sprawling, only to rise again, blood streaming from his piggy nose, to chase after his quarry once more.

"Igneous, stay out of this! There's nothing you can do to help!" Igneous nearly jumped at the unexpected order, hanging back almost guiltily as Butterfree, obeying her own instructions, fluttered over to join Peter in hot pursuit of Jigglypuff. He'd forgotten about Tobias again while he attacked Girafarig. What did his trainer think about how he had acted?

It wasn't long before Jigglypuff was at last subdued, Buttefree slowing her down enough with a confusion that Peter was able to reach her and pummel her vigorously. The judge officially declared Team Ghost the winners as Floor Master Thorn recalled his final fighter. "Congratulations," he intoned gravely, "you have successfully survived your passage through darkness. Let the next level be open to you."

He stepped to the side, gesturing to the five trainers that they should walk past him. Team Ghost apprehensively recalled their own Pokemon and stepped forward, instinctively crossing the once more empty arena in a huddle. Floor Master Thorn smiled slightly as they passed, giving the patiently waiting judge an almost imperceptible nod. The man disappeared into the shadowy recesses of the room once more, muttering something into a walkie-talkie as he went. All throughout the darkness of the first level, Pokemon handlers passed out a few last-minute treats to their charges, checking once more to make sure that all of their injuries had been properly dealt with. Giving the Pokemon a final reminder of their role in the challenge and encouraging them to do their best to hinder the next trainers' progress, the humans retreated to the arena area to await the arrival of Team Grass.

As Team Ghost drew level with the floor master, they discovered that he had been standing only a couple of feet out from the wall, the lights of the arena carefully placed so that the area beyond him was lost in shadow. A doorway stood just behind where he had been before. Beyond it, Tobias caught sight of a set of spiraling steps leading higher into the lighthouse, faintly illuminated by something from up above. He and his companions ascended them slowly and carefully, wary of any additional traps that might be lying in wait for them.

None presented themselves, however, and Team Ghost reached the top of the stairs without incident, emerging onto the next level blinking owlishly and peering around.

Where the first level had been cold, dark, and empty, this one was the opposite--warm, brightly lit, and crowded with a riot of life. A winding dirt path curved off before the trainers, disappearing between the trunks of laden berry trees. Flowering meadows sprang up all around the miniature forest, riots of color and scent. Oddly enough, though, the level was disturbingly silent. No Bellossom sang as they danced amongst the vibrant meadows; no Aipom squabbled over the berries dangling so tantalizingly from the trees.

"Wow," Chris breathed from Tobias's left. "This must have taken a lot of landscaping…and a lot of money."

"Olivine takes its lighthouse challenge seriously," Cass explained with a shrug.

"Well, let's get going," Jenny said, stepping out onto the path. Cass reached out and grabbed her shoulder, dragging her back roughly.

"Not on the path, stupid," she hissed. "That's where they want us to go."

"Oh, and I suppose you've got an excellent alternative route," George sneered. "Crashing through the brush would still take us close enough to the path for whatever's lying in wait for us to just turn around and attack anyway."

Indeed, the lighthouse was actually less large than it had seemed on the first floor. Darkness, Tobias reasoned, had a way of amplifying distances. He could see the right and left walls of this floor clearly enough, and there wasn't really any way to avoid the path that he could see, with only narrow strips of "land" on either side of it.

Cass recognized the truth in this argument but refused to concede. "Fine, then. Go ahead and walk right into whatever's lurking out there," she spat.

George shrugged and strolled off down the rough dirt track, the rest of the team remaining in place and watching with bated breath, just waiting for the insect swarm to descend upon him or the flowers, which must surely be concealed grass-types, to leap out of hiding and attack him.

But nothing happened. Just as George was about to disappear out of sight amongst the berry trees, he stopped and turned back to his teammates, spreading his hands wide. "Well? Doesn't seem to be so bad to me."

"Yeah, come on, Cass," Jenny said, glaring at the taller girl as she stepped forward once more. "George is right."

Tobias and Chris followed her as she trotted briskly along the path to catch up with George, leaving only Cass to stand at the level's entrance. At last she, too, relented and joined her teammates as they entered the too-quiet false glade.

It was not only the silence that disturbed Tobias. This was easy, far too easy. Were was their challenge? Still, the grove didn't seem to be hiding anything particularly sinister. A pleasant aroma drifted around the still boughs of the trees, and Chris reached up to pluck some of the berries from a laden branch hanging over the trail. Upon closer inspection he discovered that they were actually just crabapples and tossed them away in disappointment.

Despite himself, Tobias allowed his mind to wander back to the recent battle. Igneous had been behaving strangely when he faced that Girafarig. Tobias had tried calling orders to him, but the Magmar had ignored his guide, attacking with a fury that Tobias had never seen before. He hoped that nothing was wrong with Igneous, but his thoughts were interrupted by George.

The boy halted suddenly on the trail ahead, the rest of the team forming and awkward jumble just behind him as they caught up. George didn't offer any explanation, and at first Tobias couldn't figure out what his problem was. It was a moment before he sensed the change in the air, the sweet aroma of flowers turned almost imperceptibly cloying.

Panic and adrenaline surged through him as he choked, lungs seeming to give an involuntary spasm. He tried to take a step back but failed, his legs unresponsive. All around him, his fellow trainers seemed to be experiencing something similar, jerking spasmodically or freezing oddly in place. Tobias gasped for air as his respiratory seemed to take on a mind of its own.

"St-stun spore," Cass managed to choke before falling to her knees, clutching her throat.


	28. Riches

Author's Notes: Yes, the school musical is finally over, so I have at least some of my life back now. Not all of my life has been returned to me yet, however, thanks to one Oliver Twist. -stabs _Oliver Twist_-

You know what? I don't think that _Oliver Twist _has had enough stabbing yet. -stab- -stab- -stab- -stab-

There, I feel much better now. Anyway, to respond to some reviews…

**Cedric: **Well, the Ariados was given some sort of orders not to really harm the trainers, I would guess. I'm sure she wouldn't have hurt Tobias terribly…or at least not fatally…I'm sure he hasn't forgotten about Professor Elm, though. We'll have to see.

**WindieDragon: **They're both hard to control and hard to write about. Generally, the trainer does a lot less of the actual controlling and more just looking over the battle as a whole. And Demsindar shirts would be awesome. I would totally buy one from you.

**Act: **I name Pokemon after people, too. I'm such a hypocrite. XD

**VulpixTrainer: **Even without arachnophobia, I'm sure that the spider part of the challenge would not be pleasant. I found it rather humorous when I found your review in my inbox today.

Thanks to everyone else who reviewed!

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Riches**

Chris struggled against the neuromuscular effects of the stun spore, straining desperately to reach his Pokeball belt. Just a little bit farther…he felt dizzy, ill. Whatever it was that was trying to paralyze him and the rest of the group would wait until they passed out to stop the attack. He couldn't hope for a reprieve, he just had to keep…reaching…

His half-frozen fingers at last found the Pokeball that he had been looking for. His arm gave an involuntary jerk, knocking it free of the magnetic clip and onto the ground. It burst open, and a puzzled Beth appeared.

"Sseey? Bli…bissey! Ssey bliss!" She gasped as she caught sight of the group of humans, all of whom were in various states of collapse, most on their knees or already on the verge of complete shutdown, only barely retaining consciousness. Her sharp inhalation, of course, brought some of the dangerous powder into her body and she coughed violently, normally cheerful face a mask of surprise and horror.

"Aromatherapy," Chris croaked. Beth acted quickly, reaching down and plucking the egg out of her pouch and cracking it between her fingerless hands before the stun spore could hijack her nervous system. The crushed egg gave off a spicy aroma, invigorating and refreshing. Beth continued to smash the egg, grinding the thin shell down into a fine powder. Each impact released another gust of the restoring fragrance, and Chris quickly felt his breathing ease, his muscles relaxing as the Blissey's attack counteracted the soporific powder. He staggered unsteadily back to his feet, shaking his head to drive off the last remnants of dizziness and confusion. His teammates did likewise, though Cass was apparently still on the alert.

"We have to find out what was sending that powder at us," she said grimly. "It won't be long before Beth's aromatherapy runs out, and then we'll just be back right where we started. They'll send another volley of stun spore at us, and another, until Beth runs out of aromatherapy or we reach the end of the level."

"Why don't we just keep walking?" George asked. "Wouldn't that be a bit easier?"

"Grass-types have legs, idiots. They'll follow us." Cass's eyes scanned the surrounding area, but it seemed as innocent as it had previously. Chris began to catch her agitation, realizing that the sharp scent of aromatherapy was growing thin. It wouldn't be long before the last of Beth's attack faded, and then they'd be subject to another wave of powder. He turned his own eyes to the task of finding the Pokemon that had attacked them. He couldn't see anything suspicious, just a bunch of ordinary flowers and trees.

"There!" Jenny cried, pointing to the base of a nearby crabapple tree. A cluster of ferns hugged the shadow of its spreading branches, clearly planted there by a human hand. No fern would naturally grown in such a dry area, with such exposure to light…or hadn't a human planted them? But no, they looked like perfectly normal ferns to him.

Beth apparently agreed with Jenny, though. "Lissss! Blissseeeyyyy!" she shrieked, waddling as fast as she could towards the fern patch, waving her stubby arms furiously. Chris smiled in spite of himself; the Blissey's wrathful charge bringing back fond memories of some of the comical expressions he'd seen on humans and Pokemon when they'd suddenly found themselves the target of the cuddly pink Pokemon's rage. It was a very painful and extremely humiliating experience.

Tobias was not terribly surprised by the Blissey's attitude. He'd witnessed a rather ugly scene at the Pokemon center in Azalea Town in which an unwise trainer had made impolite comments about the pudgy Pokemon on duty at the time. Afterwards, Tobias guessed that he and his broken nose had spent a great deal of time meditating on the fact that Blissey had the capability to master the mega punch technique. Upon reflection, Tobias decided that the boy was lucky that his nose was all that was broken.

Beth charged straight for the offending ferns. Tobias squinted hard, unsure of what Jenny had seen there. Beth dived into the plants and bent over, grasping something on the ground with her ridiculously short arms, and pulled hard.

An Oddish burst out of the soil, squealing with pain. The Blissey had it by the cluster of leaves that sprouted from its head, and its tiny feet pedaled desperately in the air. With a contemptuous heave, Beth sent it sailing through the carefully landscaped forest. It smacked forcefully into a tree some thirty feet away, tumbling to the ground amidst a hail of crabapples. Now Tobias could see the glossy green leaves cleverly concealed amongst the mundane ferns, shivering slightly as their owners realized that they were in for an unpleasant experience.

One by one, the Blissey plucked all four entrenched Oddish out of the earth and tossed them away. That done, she turned and waddled back to the group, smiling widely. "Sssey. Issey," she chirped brightly.

"I, um, thought you said that you didn't want her battling," George said, looking slightly put out.

Chris grinned mareepishly and replied, "Well, uh, I don't really like to get in her way when she's mad. It's not…nice. And anyway, those Oddish weren't really a problem for her."

"Bliss," Beth agreed with an emphatic nod.

Chris congratulated her on her victory, which she dismissed with a modest wave of a stubby arm, and recalled her. "Well, I guess we should keep going, then," he said. "Shall we?"

They continued along the path, only slightly more wary than before. Tobias spent a moment pondering the Blissey's strange eggs. What was in them? They had seemed to be hollow when Beth had used one for her aromatherapy, which was fortunate, as it would have created quite a mess otherwise, but there must be some substance to them, or they wouldn't have their other healing properties, would they? He shook his head ruefully. That was a question for the professors to debate over and study. Perhaps his Pokedex would know the answer, in fact. He could see about it later.

As the party continued through the eerily quiet forest, Tobias was surprised that no further attacks manifested themselves. Surely, the designers of this level would have put numerous spore traps along the path, so that the five trainers would constantly have to be on the lookout for dangerous powder attacks? He watched the area to the side of the path carefully and, sure enough, caught sight of several more embedded Oddish, quietly clustered amidst bushes or flowers. None of them made any move to attack, however.

Suddenly, he caught a flash of movement near the base of one of the trees alongside the path. A diminutive Pokemon had darted around behind it, trying to hide itself from the view of the passing trainers. It couldn't help but peek back out, however, morbidly fascinated by what were, to its small eyes, a troupe of giants storming past. It was an Oddish, looking rather battered, one of its normally glossy leaves bruised and torn. Tobias smiled slightly as he passed the small Pokemon, though he felt a twinge of guilt as well, however irrationally; it looked as though the Oddish that Beth had rid the team of had gone off to warn their comrades of the approach of the dangerous Blissey. They probably wouldn't have to worry about any more attacks of that nature, then.

"Oh, well, this is wonderful." Tobias returned his attention to the path before him at the sound of the voice, or rather, the lack of a path before him. An enormous clump of brambles sprouted up from the ground ahead of them, their grasping limbs intertwined into a nearly seamless wall of greenery that stretched an impossible ten feet high. The plants themselves sported unnaturally thick branches, and their sharp thorns were nearly two inches long. Cass stood before the obstacle, hands on hips, glaring at it as though it was a personal affront.

"What could make thorn bushes this big?" Jenny wondered aloud, clearly in awe of the deadly plants.

"A Venusaur, I would guess. They can learn frenzy plant, you know," Chris said.

"Had personal experience with this sort of thing?" George asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, uh, let's just say…you'll never look at plants the same way after encountering a Venus flytrap with three-foot-long 'mouths,'" Chris chuckled, reddening slightly as the eyes of the rest of the group fell upon him.

"I don't much care what made them," Cass stated curtly. "Figuring out how to get past them is good enough for me."

"Why don't we burn through?" Jenny suggested, shooting a glance at Tobias.

"Sorry, but Igneous isn't strong enough to use flamethrower yet, and trying to fire punch our way through would take forever and he'd only end up getting hurt, anyway. I mean, look at those thorns!" Tobias replied.

"That's all right, I have a Pokemon that can do it for us," Cass announced, pulling an Ultra Ball from her belt. "Help me out here, Kecleon."

Tobias recognized another Hoenn Pokemon as the powerful capture device disgorged an unfamiliar creature. Though distinctly lizardlike in appearance, it stood upright on its stubby hind legs, shifting constantly from foot to foot in order to maintain its balance as it cocked its absurdly large head back and forth. As Tobias watched, the Kecleon opened its mouth and a long, thin pink tongue rolled out of it, lolling comically. Tobias was surprised by its appearance. This Pokemon had fire attacks? It looked like a grass-type more than anything else to him, green except for an odd red zigzag band that circled its midsection and yellow markings on its head.

"Keclll," the bizarre Pokemon announced with an odd lisp most likely caused by the fact that its tongue was hanging out of its mouth.

"Kecleon, I want you to burn through those plants using flamethrower, all right?" Cass said, gesturing towards the massive wall of greenery. Her Pokemon studied the plants with a critical eye, his tongue absentmindedly curling and uncurling as it did so. He nodded once and then tensed as though with intense concentration, his tongue rolling back up into his mouth. Tobias was surprised as he began to blush, and was further astounded as the blush spread to engulf the rest of his body.

The Kecleon changed color before Team Ghost's eyes, turning a stunning crimson that made his zigzag stripe appear purple by comparison. The change completed, he opened his mouth once more, though this time it was not a pink tongue that appeared, but rather a small tongue of flame. The weak attack fizzled out to nothing almost immediately, and the Kecleon's coloration flickered for a second with surprise and disappointment. For her part, Cass turned a red that almost rivaled that of her Pokemon, whether from embarrassment or anger it was impossible to say. Tobias guessed it was some mixture of both, and that it was probably largely in response to George, who was smirking at Kecleon.

"I'm sorry, new TM move, you know," Cass muttered, pointedly not looking at George. "Go on, Kecleon, try it again."

Kecleon screwed up his face with determination and drew in a deep breath, exhaling it as a raging blast of flame that struck the thorns forcefully. Clearly relieved at his success, Kecleon swept the continuous steam of fire back and forth across the plants, stepping forward as the outer layer of greenery crumbled to ash. The barrier burned reluctantly, the sap coursing through the living plants igniting reluctantly at best. Upon reflection, Tobias decided that this was probably a good thing; if the fire were able to spread easily, they would probably end up inadvertently setting the entire level alight, and where would they be then?

It was slow going, as the cluster of brambles proved to be some five feet deep. Kecleon tired quickly, in the end only able to spit out weak bursts of fire at increasingly long intervals. Cass hurriedly returned him to his Ultra Ball when the last smoldering clump of branches fell before the attack. Team Ghost stepped through the makeshift doorway in the barrier, treading quickly over hot ash. To their surprise, they found themselves within sight of the level's arena as soon as they reached the other side. A meadow stretched to the far wall of the level, broken only the dirt arena cleared in the middle of the space and the familiar path, which had resumed on the other side of the thorny wall, cutting straight across the plants to the battle area at the center. A woman stood at its far end, apparently waiting for them.

"Well, that level wasn't as bad as the last one," Jenny said earnestly as she surveyed the space before them. Tobias decided not to mention that it would definitely have been unpleasant if they'd had to deal with repeated powder attacks from the concealed Oddish.

"Come on," Cass said simply, trotting forward at a brisk pace, apparently eager to complete this level. As they drew near to the arena, Tobias caught sight of the judge, another woman who had been sitting off to one side of the arena, staring out across the meadow with her eyes unfocused, clearly daydreaming. She returned to herself as Team Ghost approached, collecting her flags and rising back to her feet.

The floor master smiled warmly as they approached, brushing her long black hair out of her face. Tobias guessed that if she lay down in the meadow she would be almost perfectly camouflaged, as her dress was a riot of brilliantly colored blotches against a background of light green, mimicking the flower-studded grass. "Congratulations on surviving the second level," she said as Team Ghost stepped up to their end of the arena. "As you may have guessed, this level is intended to represent what the first humans to visit Olivine found upon their arrival. The many grass-types native to the area at the time were, naturally, less than pleased that humans decided to start clearing trees from their land and using their dead bodies to construct dens. I am your final challenge on this level. Choose your Pokemon."

This time there was little hesitation as the trainers selected their fighters. Tobias selected Jinx's chime and rang it. The clear tone that it gave off startled teammates and opponent alike, and they all watched in unabashed fascination as the Murkrow was released from confinement in a cloud of pale vapor. "Wow, you really aren't from around here, are you?" Jenny remarked with a chuckle.

"No, not really," Tobias replied with a slight smile. The other trainers gawked for a second more while Jinx eyed them with equal interest. As they weren't wearing anything of sufficient interest, he grew bored began to survey the arena instead. Cass shrugged and released her Pokemon, one with which Tobias was actually familiar: a Sandslash. The other three selected the Pokemon that they had used in the previous battle, and all five waited tensely as the floor master contemplated her choices.

At last she plucked three Pokeballs from her belt and sent out a formidable array of adversaries. Perhaps the most imposing was a Typhlosion, which let out a triumphant roar at the prospect of battling. Her fiery mane flared to life with a muted whoosh, the air around her body shimmering with the resulting heat. The rest of her teammates moved discreetly to the side, shooting irritated glances back and forth at one another.

"The battle between floor master Sweet and Team Ghost will now begin," the referee announced, raising her flags and looking expectantly back and forth between the opposing teams. Again, the Pokemon charged forward in disarray, save for two. Cass's Sandslash dove immediately into the earth, its long digging claws moving so rapidly that they disappeared behind a blur of flying soil. It vanished from sight almost immediately, leaving only a neat round hole as testament to the fact that it had been standing there a mere few seconds before. Jinx also lagged behind, shooting a confused look back at Tobias.

"It's a five-on-five battle, Jinx," Tobias explained. "You can pick who you want to battle, I guess." He was still unable to make out what was going on in the center of the arena, and guessed that he'd have to wait until the battle started to break up into smaller skirmishes to issue orders.

That suited Jinx just fine. He took to the air, peering keenly down at the battle below. The Typhlosion was wreaking havoc, bellowing with delight as she charged at her opponents. Team Ghost's Pokemon scattered as she approached, unwilling to even go near the searing heat of her body. Only Jenny's Butterfree bravely took a stand against her, sending her sliding back across the floor with a confusion. Though the action elicited a hiss of surprised pain from the floor master's Persian, which had been following behind the volcano Pokemon and was struck by the beast as a result, the Typhlosion herself seemed unperturbed. She reared back up onto her hind legs and sent an almost lazy burst of spiraling flame at the bug-type.

Butterfree, surprised at Typhlosion's quick recovery, unwisely tried to both dodge the strange wreath of flame and deflect it with a confusion attack at once. As a result, she awkwardly fluttered aside as the barely misdirected flame wheel roared past, searing clear through her right wing. With a horrified cry of "Freeee!" she sank to the floor, more than a third of her wing utterly disintegrated, the charred remnant fluttering desperately in a doomed attempt to keep her airborne. "Butterfree has been eliminated!" the referee called quickly, the Pokemon in question disappearing from the field nearly as fast. Jenny looked ill as she cradled the Pokeball that held Buterfree between her hands, apparently unnerved by the way her Pokemon had been injured by the Typhlosion's attack.

Jinx was not much concerned with either the Butterfree or the Typhlosion, however. His interest was quickly diverted to the lithe, creamy Pokemon crouched near the center of the arena. It sat on its haunches calmly, not directly engaging any of his its opponents, though a charred mark along its left side indicated that it was the one that had fallen victim to the Typhlosion's natural shield of heat. Every now and then, when it thought it saw a chance to attack without provocation, it would swipe the air in the direction of its target, the strange jewel set into its forehead glowing mysteriously. A sudden burst of round, shiny objects fountained from thin air and smacked into the selected Pokemon with apparent force each time that it did so, and soon the floor was littered with small, glittering piles of mysterious objects.

This was clearly too good to be true. Why would one of his opponents decide to give away shiny things like that? Jinx fluttered down closer, just to be sure. Indeed, the feline did seem to be tossing shiny items around like they were nothing. Not only that, but Jinx now recognized them for what they were: the kind of shiny things that humans called "coins." The Murkrow had learned that these were particularly special shiny things, for as Tobias had often demonstrated, you could trade them for better, shinier things. He dove down and landed in the clear space in front of the cream Pokemon and flapped his wings wildly, trying to draw its attention. "Kroowww! Murkrowowowo!" he cawed as loudly as he could.

The Persian was considerably puzzled by this behavior. He had never had a Murkrow land in front of him before and start yelling "Throw coins at me! Me me me me me me!" before. Peering intently at the diminutive black bird, he tried to decide if it was up to something. But no, it appeared to be completely serious. Baring his sharp teeth in a catlike grin, the Persian obligingly sent a pay day at it.

"No! Jinx! Jinx, what are you doing?" Tobias yelled as he saw the Murkrow land in front of the Persian and start dancing around. He was nervous, and could tell that the rest of team was as well; floor master Sweet's Typhlosion seemed unstoppable, and they were already down a fighter, putting at them at a one-Pokemon disadvantage. The floor master herself seemed completely confident, not even issuing orders to her fighters as she calmly surveyed the battle. They were doing remarkably well on their own, he had to admit. Having Jinx goof off was certainly not going to help them win. "Attack the Hitmontop! Attack the Hitmontop!"

Peter the Primeape was currently embroiled in a heated battle with the other fighting-type, firing kick after kick at its head in hopes of knocking it off balance enough to tip it over. Magneton finished disposing of the floor master's Farfetch'd, which fainted after the second thunderbolt that it received, and floated off towards the Tentacruel currently sending blasts caustic poison at Peter's undefended back. Typhlosion selected it as her next target, sending a looping flame wheel into its steel body. Spinning around as quickly as it was able, it began to send bolts of electricity at the larger Pokemon, its metallic hide glowing a painful red-hot. Sandslash, meanwhile, resurfaced beneath the floor master's Tentacruel. Erupting from the earth with great force, she dug her long claws into the jellyfish's tender underside. Disgusting globs of clear gel rained down on her face as they spilled from the resulting ruptures in the delicate membrane of the aquatic Pokemon's belly. In response, the strange beaklike structure suspended below its body snapped shut, trapping the ground-type in a firm grip while its dozens of stringy tendrils wrapped themselves around her body. She hissed as the numerous appendages excreted a powerful poison, stinging and burning her skin. In response, she lashed out with her wicked claws, severing tentacle upon tentacle. The fight did not last long, however, as the water-type slowly deflated as its innards spilled out, the referee soon deeming it unable to continue.

Well, it was looking a bit better for them, Tobias amended as the two opponents fell in quick succession. Jinx had ignored his earlier command however, continuing to dart around in front of the Persian as it hurled wave after wave of pay days at him. He seemed to be enjoying himself, but Tobias was at the moment more interested in winning the battle than Jinx's personal enjoyment. "Come on, Jinx! I mean it! Leave the alone Persian and attack the Hitmontop."

Jinx was completely oblivious to his guide's commands, however. He was far too engrossed in this unusual game with the Persian. The cat would hurl a multitude of shiny things at him, which he would dodge, or dodge as best he could, and then wait patiently for him to flutter within reach again as he tried to retrieve his prize, only to send another barrage at him while his guard was down. While he considered this to be quite rude, he didn't mind terribly; he was fast enough to get out of the way of most of the flying treasure, and was building quite a stash of the coins. Still, the rapidly moving chunks of metal _hurt _when they hit, and the Murkrow squawked angrily at the Persian every time one struck. He had forgotten completely about the battle raging all around him and was now focused solely on amassing as many of the precious coins as he could before the fun came to an end.

Typhlosion at last felled Magneton, though she was beginning to flag after its repeated electrical barrages. Still, she was far from defeated. Snorting and shaking her head slightly as if to rid herself of the occasional shudders that resulted from being subjected to major electrical assaults, she surveyed the battlefield with an experienced eye. The Murkrow and Primeape were both occupied, while the Sandash was creeping up behind her normal-type teammate. She grunted and dropped to all fours, charging with surprising speed at the ground-type. Alerted by a cry from its trainer, however, the nimble insectivore dived back into the protection of the earth, vanishing from sight. The Typhlosion stuck her head into the resulting hole, breathing out another flame wheel at the retreating Sandslash's heels. The ground-type was already too far away for her to reach in that way, however, her powerful fire attack dissipating against the walls of the tunnel. Grumbling at being denied a chance to engage another foe, she withdrew her head and swept her gaze around at the remaining fighters once more.

She was just in time to witness the elimination of the Primeape as Hitmontop delivered a neat triple kick to the ape's temples. Knocked out in the most literal sense of the word, it disappeared from the battlefield in a burst of red energy. That left only the Murkrow within her reach, then. She grinned to herself; whoever had sent that particular Pokemon out to battle a _Persian, _of all things,wasn't all too bright. Predictably, the bird was utterly absorbed in the collection of riches as opposed to actually defeating its opponent, and Persian was perfectly to content to sit back and whittle his energy down slowly with repeated pay days. She reared back up to her full height and padded quietly up behind the black bird, who was oblivious to his trainer's frantic shouts for him to watch out. The bird was too close to Persian for her to send a flame wheel at him without risking injuring her teammate further, but if she could hit him with a good tackle he'd feel pain enough. She winked conspiratorially to her partner from behind the bird's back, and he replied with a discreet grin. She prepared to pounce while Persian sent another pay day at the bird.

To her surprise, he darted nimbly out of the way and the coins sprayed into her own exposed stomach with surprising force. She doubled over, the wind knocked out of her, as the Murkrow fluttered to a new spot just a few feet to the left. Typhlosion glared murderously at him and, upon regaining her breath, launched herself after him with a quick attack. The coins thoroughly coating the arena in the area proved treacherous, however, and she slipped and careened out of control, clipping Persian as she slid past, spraying coins in all directions as she did so. Jinx went flying, by chance knocked aside by the Typhlosion. He won the fight for control as he spiraled through the air, however, soaring easily up and over the chaos below once more. As Persian limped away from the fallen Typhlosion, heavily favoring his right front paw, Sandslash erupted from the ground beneath Hitmontop, who had been spinning over to aid his comrades in the fray. The sudden appearance of a Sandslash under his head was sufficient to throw him off balance at last, and he crashed to the ground in a daze. Sandslash was on top of him in mere moments, dispatching of the weakened fighter with a rapidly executed set of fury swipes.

Typhlosion, thoroughly humiliated, slowly picked herself up from the pile of coins that she had landed in, many of which were now beginning to melt as a result of contact with her body. She wasn't up for long, however, as Sandslash had no sooner felt his opponent's body dissolve into insubstantial energy beneath his bloodstained claws than he was leaping into the air, spinning end over end as fast as he could in order to dislodge a barrage of needles from his back. A spray of spines struck Typhlosion's side as the swift attack hit home, and she turned to orient herself against this new foe.

Jinx was furious as he found himself suddenly airborne after being swept aside by the wildly charging Typhlosion. His chest feathers badly singed and the bruises he had received from improperly evaded pay days screaming as he flapped his short wings wildly to regain control of his flight, he eyed the massive fire-type with indignant loathing. How dare she! Not only had she injured the coin-thrower, she was now destroying the coins themselves, the precious shiny objects transformed to useless puddles of molten metal at her searing touch. Anger and remorse at seeing his horde destroyed welled up in his small form, and he drew deeply on the dark energy running hidden through the very air around him, sending a powerful night shade at her just as the barrage of spines hit home, one or two of the projectiles whistling disconcertingly near his talons as they passed beneath him.

Typhlosion found her fiery body suddenly enveloped in malevolent, unnatural cold. At the same time, reality seemed to melt away from her vision, replaced by a creeping darkness that wrapped its writhing tendrils around her with frightening voracity. It was not simply darkness, the lack of light, but a living, grasping being clawing covetously at her form. She couldn't breath, she couldn't think…and when she collapsed, shaking with terror and unable to continue, she fell not into the eternal depths of a horrible place that the sun never touched, but the dirt floor of the arena, now spattered with the blood dripping from the wounds she had received from the Sandslash's spines. She had only a second to rejoice in the fact that she was still alive and once again back in the real world before the familiar compressing sensation that accompanied the return sequence of a Pokeball encompassed her.

Jinx crowed with triumph as the mighty beast fell in response to his attack, but was horrified as a pained yowl arose from below. While he had been distracted, the Sandslash had dispatched of the coin-thrower, now standing panting but triumphant as one of the last two Pokemon of Team Ghost. Now, what had the stupid Sandslash had to go and do that for? Now there would be no one to produce more coins for him. Disconsolately, Jinx drifted down to the arena floor and began scooping as many of the remaining coins as he could reach toward him, collecting them into an untidy pile.

"Congratulations, Team Ghost," floor master said with a moody pout that indicated that she was reluctant to offer them any sort of praise, "you have successfully survived your passage through the wilderness."

There was a collective exhalation from the trainers' side of the field as hands unclenched and Tobias's teammates relaxed. It had been a close battle, far too close for comfort, and it had taken a moment to sink in that it was over. Floor master Sweet's words, however, broke the spell, and the agitated teenagers began to smile at one another as they momentarily set aside differences to congratulate one another on their narrow victory. Tobias, however, had one other small problem to deal with. He strode over to Jinx, who was sweeping still more coins into his stack.

"Jinx," he said sternly, "what were you doing out there?"

Jinx rolled his eyes. Humans had an irritating tendency to ask obvious questions like this. Why, he had been collecting coins, of course, and he said as much.

Of course, Tobias heard only a muttered "Krow mur mur" and was not entirely satisfied. "I don't care if the Persian was throwing shiny things around. It was trying to hurt you; you know that, you're not stupid. I was trying to give you advice, but you were too wrapped up in your own greed to notice. You could have been hurt really badly, you know that? It was only luck that that Typhlosion didn't fry you! I was trying to tell you to get out of the way, but no!"

Jinx was only half-listening, more concerned with collecting the spoils of war than listening to the whining of a human. He knew the boy meant well, but really, Jinx was Jinx and Jinx knew best what would be best for Jinx. Simple as that.

Seeing that he was getting nowhere and aware of the critical, impatient eyes of his teammates upon him, Tobias returned Jinx to his chime, muttering, "We'll talk about this later."

"I'll send your cash winnings down to the storage area for you," floor master Sweet sighed.

"Huh?" Tobias asked, turning to look at her in puzzlement.

"Your winnings," she said impatiently, gesturing to the glittering pile of coins that now graced the center of the arena. "Whoever defeats a Persian battle gets to keep the pay day coins, you know."

"Yeah, but my Murkrow didn't actually knock your Persian out," Tobias persisted.

The floor master sighed in exasperation. "I know. I'm going to split it up equally amongst all of your team. Now, get moving. The third floor awaits." She stepped aside, revealing a doorway in the far wall, and waited impatiently for Team Ghost to file past.

The five trainers set foot upon the metal steps with apprehension, secretly dreading whatever the next level might bring their way. Some of them, Chris in particular, were beginning to regret signing up for the tournament in the first place. It just seemed to be more trouble than it was worth. Still, it was too late to back out now. Their teammates needed them. As they circled upward, a distinctly briny smell drifted down from the level above to greet them, giving the team a decent idea of what the next challenge was going to be, though most ardently hoped that they were wrong.

Tobias was the last up the ladder, and was surprised, as he reached the second to last step, to find that no one had thought to move aside from the entrance to the third level to let him pass. In fact, the entire team was huddled just outside the doorway, conversing in low tones.

"It's not deep, Cass. Seriously, I'm guessing about three feet."

"So sure that you're willing to jump in and see whether or not it's just an optical illusion? None of us really came equipped to go swimming, in case you haven't noticed."

"Well, we can't stand here forever," George snapped.

"Fine, you first," Cass retorted.

"What's going on?" Tobias asked, still unable to see around his comrades and into the room beyond.

"The next level is a water level," Chris explained, not turning around.

"Oh, this is silly," Jenny sighed. "I'll go first, I guess. If something nasty comes to get me, though, do any of you have water-type Pokemon that could fish me out?

A brief inventory was taken of the Pokeballs that the trainers had brought along. In the end, it was found that no, no such Pokemon was currently within their possession. There was a gusty sigh followed shortly by a loud splash as Jenny apparently jumped into the water. The trainers in front of Tobias crowded forward to fill in the space previously occupied by the red-haired girl and to peer anxiously down at her to see that she was all right. Tobias made it up to the final step and waited impatiently for someone else to move, his anxiety increasing with each passing moment.

"Are you okay?" Cass asked.

"Y-yes…it's not deep, but it's f-f-f-freezing." Jenny's voice drifted up from somewhere below.

"Well, I'm going in, then," Cass announced boldly, and another cacophonous splash echoed in the air, rebounding from the walls of what Tobias guessed must be a fairly open room. Now there was enough room on the platform for Tobias to squeeze into the room proper, and he gaped at what he saw before him.

A vast pool stretched apparently throughout this entire level, its waters undulating slightly as they lapped against the sides of smooth, weatherworn rocks that sprung up from its surface at apparently random intervals. Whoever had designed the level had actually built up the stairs to this floor with a temporary addition of a couple of steps. The additional height accounted for the new platform upon which most of Team Ghost was standing, which hung about five feet off of the actual floor. The tiles were made invisible by a new layer of waterproof plastic that had been laid down before the room was filled.

A mysterious mist hung over the water, preventing Tobias from seeing more than ten feet across the waters ahead of him. It stubbornly refused to dissipate beneath the bright morning light streaming in from the lighthouse's windows, which were set high up in the level's walls. The waters were illuminated from within as well, however; dozens of soft yellow lights floated quietly beneath its surface, rocking to and fro in the almost nonexistent currents circulating throughout the pool. The light reflecting off of the water cast an entrancing pattern of shifting light patterns against the lighthouse's stone walls, further adding to the aura of mystery that pervaded this level.

Chris shattered the quiet, subdued atmosphere by being the next to take the plunge into the water, flailing helplessly in the air as he did so as though he had changed his mind mid-leap and was desperately trying to claw his way back onto dry land. He landed with a massive crash that left Cass spluttering indignantly as his entry sent a spray of water into her face. Chris himself was thoroughly soaked and looked rather sheepish, apologizing meekly to Cass before moving away from the platform so that George could follow him in.

As the pudgy boy disappeared over the side of the platform, Tobias stepped nervously up to the edge and peered in. He would really prefer not to find out exactly how cold the water was, or what hidden dangers were lurking beneath its pristine surface, but he didn't really have a choice, now did he? He threw himself off the edge before his brain had sufficient time to process the decision, afraid that he'd dither there forever otherwise, and hit the water with a resounding concussion.

Jenny was right; the water was terribly cold. The shock of it took his breath away, and he stood completely still for a moment, experiencing a horrible spreading chill as his clothes absorbed the frigid liquid, wicking it further up his back. He shivered convulsively, holding his arms, which had not yet touched the water, determinedly high in the air and away from the liquid, reluctant to subject them to the same treatment. He guessed that he probably looked pretty ridiculous, standing there half-submerged in water with his arms up over his head, but at the moment, he didn't care; he was _cold!_

The only sound for several seconds was the slosh of water as it pulsed around the five trainers, still reeling slightly from the shock of their entries, and the subtle chatter of five sets of teeth as the teenagers waited to become a bit more accustomed to the water before moving on.

Naturally, it was Cass who did so first, slogging determinedly forward. She almost seemed to be moving in slow motion, her now waterlogged clothes dragging at her body, as did the water itself, making it difficult for her to forge a path forward. _I bet she's going to regret wearing those jeans by the time this level is over, _Tobias thought with satisfaction. He felt only mildly guilty afterwards; the bossy girl was really beginning to get on his nerves.

"Well, come on," she grunted, struggling onward. "We didn't come this far just to get stopped by a little water, now did we?"

The rest of the team halfheartedly muttered that no, of course they hadn't, and began to slog through the water after their leader. It was slow going and tiring, Tobias eventually lowering his arms to his sides as they quickly began to ache. Team Ghost leaned forward slightly as they walked, placing each step very carefully after George slipped on the slick plastic beneath his feet and fell face-first into the water. It had taken all of the rest of the team to haul him out again, spluttering and gasping wildly. By this point they were all terribly soaked, and the chill of the water had vanished thanks to the heat generated by their hard labors.

It was soon discovered that the origin of the strange lights that Tobias had seen below the surface of the water were actually Chinchou, resting contentedly on the bottom of the pool as the bioluminescent bulbs on their antennae illuminated the area around them. Their presence had at first worried the team, as the half-electric types could easily devastate them with a single, casual shock that would travel easily through their watery environment. Such an encounter could be fatal, even if it only paralyzed; if you couldn't move, there was no way to return to the surface of the water when you went under. At length, however, George pointed out that there was, yet again, no real way to go around the Chinchou, that the Lighthouse Challenge organizers were presumably not trying to kill them, and that even if they were going to attack he didn't really care much anymore as all that he wanted at the moment was to be dry again and get this stupid tournament over with.

The group agreed with him and moved onward, and indeed the Chinchou did not make any move to attack. They watched placidly as the trainers forced their way past, occasionally darting out of the group's path with a flutter of their small, delicate fins. Tobias found their presence comforting, to some extent. They would presumably keep almost any aquatic predator away as their electrical powers made them the bane of most water-types.

They passed several of the large, mysterious boulders, but found nothing particularly interesting about them. At first, Chris voiced hopes that they would be able to climb out of the water and sit on them a while to rest and get dry, but the rocks proved to be too sheer-sided to allow them to clamber up.

Tobias sincerely hoped that the only challenge for this level was simply to make it to the other side without collapsing from exhaustion. That seemed as though it would be difficult enough to him, at least. He peered constantly straight into the mist ahead, willing an arena to materialize after he took the next step, or the next…

As a result, he was initially ecstatic as the large, hazy bump appeared in the mists ahead. It appeared to be some sort of significant structure, at least, and probably one that would allow him to get out of the water for a few minutes. He pressed forward with renewed vigor, his teammates following suit. As the mists slowly cleared away from the shape, he could see that it was made of stone, what appeared to be a flat slab capped by a large, rounded boulder in the center.

As Cass approached the edge of the island-like formation, however, Tobias felt a sense of foreboding come over him. "Wait, don't--" he began, but it was too late. Cass reached up and gratefully put her hand atop the lower part of the island, preparing to haul herself onto its flat surface. In unison, the lights of the Chinchou went out. Cass and the rest of the humans froze, staring wide-eyed into the now darkened water surrounding them. What had they done?

Tobias shifted his weight unconsciously, his body automatically adjusting to the slight push of something from behind. Soon, however, the shove became too pronounced for him to ignore, however, and he bent his knees purposefully, pivoting slightly to the side to present less of a target to the current.

It took a moment for the work to sink into his conscious. _Current!_ There hadn't been a current before, he realized with a jolt. Suddenly, however, he being pushed and pulled in all directions as the waters roiled and churned around him, brought to life by some unknown force. He struggled over to a nearby boulder and clutched its rough surface desperately, trying to keep from being knocked over or pulled under by the newly created currents. His teammates were doing the same, he saw as he cast a glance back over his shoulder, his splayed fingers trying to worm deep into the rock that he was clutching, desperately questing for better purchase. The only one who hadn't moved was Cass.

It was probably her expression that most terrified him. He'd never seen Cass, the eternally cool, unruffled leader, look so utterly terrified. She was staring fixedly at the large bump in the middle of the makeshift island. Apparently, there was something lying on top of it--something rather different from the rocky surface on which it rested, because as Tobias looked on, it began to move.


	29. Disguises

**Warning:** Rating change! This chapter is definitely PG-13. Heh. I can just see you sitting in front of your computer, rubbing your hands together and going, "Ooh, what's in _this _chapter that made Negrek do her first rating bump?"

**Author's Notes: **Well, May is not so free a month as I had hoped. That aside, I had a good time writing this chapter…perhaps altogether too much of a good time, as you'll see towards the end. I'd also like to give credit to **Facia**, as one of her (much) earlier reviews gave me the inspiration for the fourth floor of the lighthouse. Most of that is actually next chapter, but it begins here, and if you go back and find the old review, you'll be able to debunk the ending a bit.

Wow, it seemed like a lot of people had something going on May 6th. I hope you all got through that okay, and belated good luck, Yellowspottedlizard. I hope you did well.

I'm glad you like my fight scenes, Cedric. I really have fun writing them, so I'm glad that you think they come out well. It is hard to deal with so many Pokemon at once. The initial version of the last chapter accidentally gave the floor master six Pokemon, so I had to go back and rewrite that one a bit.

I'm constantly surprised why people ask why Tobias can never get a break…he survived a Scyther attack, escaped from prison, was rescued by a Slipstri, and got to visit the beautifully scenic Johto. What's bad about that?

I'd love to see your pictures, Mareo and Anime, and I'll work on Spirfargio for you, WindieDragon. I totally forgot about it, sorry.

Interestingly enough, Emerald version adds a phone feature to the Pokenav, so my previous use of it isn't breaking canon anymore. It's neat how these things work out, isn't it?

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Disguises**

The creature slowly drew itself up to its full and considerable height, towering over the five humans clinging desperately to their respective rocks in the midst of the swirling rapids. The eddying mist that filled the room hung in a dense cloud about it, almost forming a regal shroud for its menacing draconic form. As its long, slender wings opened, however, the obscuring haze was torn asunder, revealing…

Tobias squeezed his eyes shut, clinging desperately to his boulder. He recognized the Pokemon. No! No, he didn't recognize it. Please, don't let it be what he had thought he'd seen…

Chris, however, had no qualms about uttering the beast's name. "Lugia!" he cried, his voice only barely audible over the roar of the now-agitated water. Tobias reluctantly opened his eyes, unable to block out the terrible creature standing over the group. Chris's shout had seemed both fearful and awed, and a quick glance at the boy, who was clinging to a boulder not far away, confirmed this. He was staring at the magnificent white bird with wide eyes, clutching his boulder tightly and clearly unsure as to whether he should run forward or back the way he had come.

Tobias winced as the massive dragon-bird's head swiveled around to focus on Chris, and an explosive shriek from its cruelly hooked beak confirmed the its identity as it proudly stated its name. He leaned his head against the boulder in front of him, trying to steady his whirling thoughts. Cursed, cursed, cursed, cursed! Most trainers were lucky if they even caught a glimpse of _one _legendary, much less come too close for comfort to _two _of them. And there was no doubt that he was in for it now; he doubted that Lugia would be very pleased with their little group for trespassing on its territory, bizarre as it was that it had apparently taken up residence in the lighthouse.

This had apparently occurred to Cass as well. She grimly grabbed her Ultra Ball and, apparently deciding that it would be unwise to lob it directly at Lugia, depressed its front button instead, muttering, "Come on, Kecleon."

Nothing happened. Cass paled and pressed the button again, then again, clicking it frantically as Lugia returned his attention to her, leaning in closer with a mocking grin on his face. Cold terror surged in the pit of Tobias's stomach. There was no way-why wasn't the Ultra Ball working?

A pair of Pokeballs sailed onto the island, apparently thrown by Chris and George, their voices echoing off of the level's walls in a confused jumble of noise. The balls clattered off of the boulder upon which Lugia was perched, dropping back to the rock slab of the island harmlessly, unopened.

At that point, Tobias was positive that hysteria would soon ensue. He felt the urge to scream and flee himself in the face of the powerful legendary bird perched regally over them, smirking down upon the five humans that knew they were utterly at his mercy. In fact, it was only that Lugia grew tired of their antics before they truly began to go mad with terror that prevented the team from dissolving into complete disarray, which would probably have involved at least one of them trying desperately to run against a current, tripping and falling beneath the water only to drown. Not that it really mattered; they were probably going to all die anyway, Tobias thought as the huge white bird gave one experimental flap of his powerful wings, blasting a gale force gust of wind across the room and knocking Team Ghost back into their senses. A second heave of his wings and he was in the air, circling menacingly over the five trainers. His streamlined form cut through the misty air with fluid grace, water droplets condensing on his silvery feathers as he soared through the humid air and glittering in a stunning display as he flew beneath the light streaming in from the lighthouse's windows. He released a couple more triumphant screams, apparently relishing the terror that they instilled in the humans below him as he contemplated which one to deal with first.

Tobias felt his terror slowly displaced by anger as he watched the antics of the powerful legendary. Lugia's absolute arrogance and clear disdain for Tobias and his comrades reminded him all too well of the tales he had heard of the conceited legendaries who had nearly brought the lives of his people to an end long before. Well he, for one, was not going down without a fight. Even if the bird was able to prevent the Pokeballs from functioning somehow, Tobias was fairly sure that he wouldn't expect anyone here to be using a chime. He couldn't remember what types Lugia was, and frankly didn't care. He grabbed Accemenla's chime, figuring that the Tarsix could at least try to redirect the legendary's attacks, even if she didn't have a hope of winning if she actually confronted him head-on.

The clear note of Tobias's chime echoed out across the level, and Lugia abruptly made his choice, banking left and soaring closer to the Waytaran. Accemenla solidified on top of Tobias's boulder, head swiveling left and right even as the last strands of mist from her release were clearing, seeming to catch the tension and desperation in the air. When she spotted Lugia bearing down on herself and her guide, she froze, her eyes narrowing and her ears going back.

"Accemenla, quick!" Tobias shouted desperately as Lugia drew nearer. "Just try to knock it off course or something so we can get away!"

The Tarsix started, ears popping back into their normal upright position in shock. _You want me to fight that _thing? she asked in consternation.

"It's the only way we're going to have any chance of coming out of this alive. Just do it! Fast!" Tobias choked, overwhelmed as a bird over three times his height dove down towards him. "Just knock him to the side! Blind him! Anything!"

_Oh, I'll do more than just that, _Accemenla chuckled, recovering quickly. Her eyes glowed as she summoned her psychic powers, and a beam of distortion leapt from her slender frame as she released the most powerful psybeam she could muster.

Lugia, who had pulled up to slow his descent and apparently gather energy for an attack, was caught completely off guard as the rippling bolt of warped reality rushed towards him. It struck the legendary bird squarely in his blue-feathered chest, and to the surprise of perhaps everyone but Accemenla, he didn't simply flinch at the blow, but was blasted backwards by it. His huge frame slammed into the island at the room's center with a deafening crash, repeated a dozen times over by the echoing room, and the whole island shook, one of the two Pokeballs that had been thrown onto it knocked off the edge. It rolled into the churning water and was almost instantly swept away, but not even its owner noticed.

Sixteen pairs of eyes, six real and two sightless, stared at the huge white bird. Accemenla released another devastating beam almost before the first had dissipated and certainly before any of the humans had a chance to comprehend the situation. Where the first psybeam had crushed the legendary bird against the rocky outcropping, narrowly missing Cass's head as he flew past, the second dug a four-inch-deep pit in the center of his chest.

The whirlpools slowly died down as the five humans and one Pokemon stood silently, Accemenla grinning slightly to herself. In the profound silence that ensued as the waters slowly calmed once more, the only sound was the fizzing of sparks and creaks of straining gears as Lugia shuddered. His feathers littered the area before him and his ribs, twisted out of their proper positions, protruded grotesquely from the gaping hole in his synthetic skin, glinting metallically. A crazed tangle of wires, some severed and frayed and some yet whole, sat nestled in his chest cavity, ruptured coolant lines spilling their contents across the mess. The mechanical bird's vocal unit gave one last hiss of static before going silent, the robot giving a final convulsion before lying still, gaping beak locked in a perpetual grimace of pain.

_You know, I don't really think it was built for battle, _Accemenla mused as she surveyed her handiwork with satisfaction.

"A robot," George chuckled a second later. "It was just a robot. They sent a robot Lugia after us."

The entire team was overcome with a fit of nervous giggles, the tension and fear that had permeated the room minutes before dissipating as their thoughts shied away from the terror they had only just recently felt. Meanwhile, the Chinchou were coming back to life one by one.

"But why?" Chris asked. Tobias was disgusted to note that he was looking on the twisted form of the robot with an almost mournful expression. As if he'd actually prefer that the thing was still active and angry at him.

"Probably for the same reason that they sent us into a spider-infested area on the first level and through a stun spore trap on the second," Jenny growled darkly.

"Well, I think that-" Cass began, but was interrupted by a shout from off to their right.

"Hey! You!" a man yelled, sloshing determinedly through the water. He was a sight to behold, red-faced and furious, waving a clipboard irately as he splashed forward, the rubber overalls that protected his entire lower half contrasting sharply with the smart business suit that he wore under it.

"Oh, shit," George murmured. "I think I know why our Pokeballs didn't work."

The man was at soon within tirade range and began to unload with a vengeance. "Just what the hell did you do to our Lugia!" he howled. From his current angle, he couldn't yet see what remained of the robot as it was shielded by the island's boulder. "I was monitoring its functions and there was suddenly a huge energy surge, and then everything went dead!"

"Hold on a minute," Cass began angrily, "we were just defending ourselves. That thing was trying to kill us!"

"That's ridiculous," the stranger bawled as he sloshed steadily onward. "The Lugia unit had been programmed to take non-lethal actions only."

"Ooh, I'm so reassured," Cass shot back, eyes glittering. Tobias wished she would just shut up, as he had a feeling that she was only making the situation worse. The man drew even with Tobias and was at last able to see his precious robot. He stopped stock-still, mouth open for another bellowed reprimand that died on his lips. His red face executed a color change that would have made Cass's Kecleon envious, shifting from purple to white to a sickly green. Tobias might have been amused by this under ordinary circumstances, but at the moment he was more worried about his current situation. What, exactly, was going to happen now that they-or specifically himself and Accemenla-had taken out the Lugiabot?

"This…this isn't possible," the man squeaked at last, horrified eyes taking in the massive damage to the Lugia's frame. "There's no way that five kids could do this, not without the help of Pokemon…"

_You called? _Accemenla asked cheekily, clearly highly amused by the situation. She waved jauntily from her perch atop Tobias's boulder. Tobias had a sudden urge to reach out and throttle her, only barely able to restrain himself by virtue of the acute feeling that this would be bad to do in front of some sort of League official who probably had the power to revoke his Johto license and also that Accemenla would make the experience as painful for him as it was for her.

The man spun around to look at the Tarsix and his complexion added an interesting gray to its color palette. "That's a…a…Pokemon," he gulped. "How did you…how did you let it out? The damping field generated by the Lugia unit's scramblers should have prevented any Pokeballs from working.

_Oh, I'm sure the damping field was working fine, _Accemenla reassured him. _I don't live in a Pokeball, you see. I've got a chime. _She waved a claw at Tobias, and the man turned to him, hopelessly confused.

Tobias sighed. "I'm from Waytar; we don't use Pokeballs. Instead, we use chimes, like these." He indicated the two chimes hanging from his belt. "I'm truly sorry that my Pokemon destroyed your robot, but what was I supposed to do? I thought it was going to kill us!"

"Not that again!" the man bellowed back. Now covering for his shock with a good dose of outrage, he seemed to swell up with rage as he attempted to tower over Tobias. Having grown considerably during his three years in Johto, however, Tobias was taller, if only by a little, than the somewhat rotund man. "Why on earth would we hold an annual event that _killed trainers? _It's ridiculous! This competition is very closely monitored, as I'm sure you're now aware."

"All right, I said I was sorry," Tobias growled, his ire beginning to rise. "There's not really much we can do about it now, is there?"

"No, there's not," the man sighed, slightly deflated. He shot another hopeless glance at the ruined Lugia and muttered something under his breath, shaking his head slightly. "I suppose I can't really disqualify you, as you had no idea what you were doing. Still…"

He pondered a fitting punishment as the rest of Team Ghost closed in on the pair, drawn to their conversation by curiosity. Accemenla, sitting quietly on the rock above her guide's head, also attracted considerable attention. A couple of hands reached for nonexistent Pokedexes as the four other trainers approached her.

"I think it only fair that your team provide at least some compensation for the damage that you've caused. The Lugia unit was on loan from Silph of Johto, and I don't doubt that they'll be extremely displeased to hear of the damaged that it sustained."

"Well that's just your fault, isn't it?" Cass snarled. "It was you that decided to use an expensive robot instead of just a regular Pokemon."

"Yeah, why'd you do that?" George said. "Seems like you were taking a big risk from the start. Pokemon are a lot easier to repair if they break, and cheaper, too." Tobias shot an uncomfortable glance at the pudgy boy in response to that particular statement. He didn't much like the notion that Pokemon were just cheaper, easier-to-"fix" machines.

"Pokemon like what?" the man asked exasperatedly. "The water level here is too low to accommodate most water-types, and raising it further would not only endanger tournament participants but would be very expensive to pull off. Not only that, but this is a saltwater pool. Most intimidating Pokemon that live waters this deep are freshwater species. No, the most we could accommodate would be Pokemon along the lines of these Chinchou, which are none too scary or difficult to get past. Lugia is also a particularly special to Olivine, as he is known to live in the Whirl Islands and in the past has risen to protect the city from the disastrous storms caused by squabbles amongst his siblings."

Team Ghost didn't really have anything to say to that, so they merely favored the tournament official with mute glares. "Move along," he said at last. "I'll work out how much you'll owe the tournament organizers and send you a bill after the first segment of the challenge has been completed."

Tobias recalled Accemenla and joined his teammates in stalking forward, the more brazen trainers shooting the occasional venomous glare back at the man. Chris was the only exception. Lagging behind, he cautiously approached the still-fuming official. "Um, sir, I-I lost one of my Pokemon," he explained hesitantly. "It fell in the water and got swept away."

The man grunted and replied, "It probably just got sucked into one of the intake filters, then. I'll check for it at the end of the challenge and send it back to you. Don't worry."

George thanked him profusely and jogged as best he could to reach the rest of the group. The going was once again slow, but Tobias couldn't even try to imagine what it would be like to cross the same distance with what you thought was a legendary Pokemon worrying at your heels. He wondered vaguely what the actual Lugia would think if it knew that scientists had been working to create a robotic version of it. While the legendary creatures were vain and no doubt approved of the constant stream of statues, paintings, and tales churned out in their praise, he wasn't so sure that they would approve of humans trying to create machines to replicate their power. It might seem to them a little…presumptuous.

Another structure soon loomed in the mist ahead, though this one was far, far larger than Lugia's small island. It reared up some ten feet above the water, stretching nearly from wall to wall. As they drew closer, it was possible to discern a narrow metal ladder running up the side of the imposing object, which proved to be constructed of bare concrete. One by one the trainers hauled themselves up the ladder, their clothes seeming all the heavier now that they were out of the water and not aided by its extra buoyancy. Tobias was the third to ascend, water cascading from his soaked body and garments as he clung desperately to the slippery metal rungs.

Once he reached the end of the ladder and scrambled up onto the top of the concrete slab, he found himself to be standing on the narrow deck of an impressively proportioned pool. Seven standard league floats drifted across its surface. Three feet in diameter and able to support nearly five hundred pounds, they could accommodate almost any Pokemon that found itself to be slightly water-shy. Peering down into the depths of the pool, Tobias discovered that the bottom had been designed to mirror the ocean floor. Seaweed obscured most of the sandy surface. Apparently, this tank was saltwater as well. A woman, obviously the floor master for this level, stood across from him, waiting patiently for the rest of the team to appear.

Jenny and Cass made their way up the ladder next, and soon Team Ghost had assembled themselves into a dripping line on their side of the pool. The floor master observed her opponents coolly, absently winding the silver whistle that she wore about her neck around her finger. "So. You are the five that destroyed the Lugia," she said at last.

"How do you know-" Jenny began, surprised.

"I received word from Maurice," the floor master explained, cutting her off. "Resourceful of you. Now, you've made it most of the way through the ocean challenge. In the early days, Olivine was a treacherous port and many a ship met its end on the rocks of the Whirl Islands before the lighthouse was built. If you can defeat me, you will have completed the third challenge." She smiled slightly and, though Tobias couldn't really make out her eyes from such a distance, he could easily imagine them to be an icy blue or stormy gray, remaining untouched by the falsely friendly expression. "Go on, choose your fighters."

It took Team Ghost a couple of minutes to select their Pokemon. Naturally, this arena provided a challenge none of the others did, and apparently no one on the team had brought a Pokemon suited to water with them. They would be at a disadvantage right from the start, then, assuming that the floor master had a roster of mostly water-types. Cass's Kecleon was the first to appear, bursting into being on the platform nearest his trainer. Jenny called out a Furret, which was clearly unnerved by the situation, and George sent out another steel-type. Tobias wasn't familiar with particular specimen; it floated above the water, supported by some force apparently unassociated with the two arms hanging down beneath its one-piece body. These twitched slightly as the creature flexed its three sharp claws, observing the battlefield with cold red eyes.

Tobias decided to use Accemenla for this battle and released her from her chime. She seemed bemused by her situation, rocking her platform back and forth experimentally on the water. "Battle time, Accemenla," Tobias informed her. "It's five-on-five."

_Interesting…_was her only comment as she sized up her teammates.

"Go, Chris!" Chris cried, tossing a ball of his own into the arena. All five trainers turned to stare at him as a Meganium appeared from the ball, the buoyant material beneath its stocky legs sinking visibly into the water. Feeling the eyes of his teammates upon him, the human Chris gave his comrades a bewildered look. "What?"

"You named your Meganium 'Chris,'" Kass responded.

"Yeah," Chris replied, apparently not catching on. "So?"

There was a collective raising of eyebrows as the four other teens turned away from him again, leaving him to shoot confused looks at them. Their attention was soon diverted to the floor master herself. She tossed five Pokeballs in quick succession, releasing a quintet of aquatically gifted Pokemon. An Omastar sank to the bottom of the pool almost immediately, its heavy shell bearing it downwards. Its comrades remained near the surface, however, apparently awaiting orders to dive. The largest of the group, a decidedly menacing Gyrados, stretched its neck and fins in a disconcerting fashion, looming over all of the other fighters by a considerable amount.

The referee, who had been lurking off to the side, raised his flags resignedly. His black and white-striped attire clung to him damply, and he stayed as close to the outer edge of the concrete slab as possible. Apparently, the previous battles had been rather ferocious, if they had succeeded in flinging water far enough to soak the man. "The battle between Team Ghost and Floor Master Swift will now commence!" he announced.

Almost before the words were out of his mouth, the shrill blast of a whistle pierced the air. The floor master's Pokemon disappeared beneath the surface nearly as fast, leaving the five on the side of Team Ghost to peer into the depths after them in uncertainty. They were distracted by repeated whistle blasts, some sort of code that coordinated the actions of the underwater Pokemon even while they were out of their trainer's sight.

"Kecleon, begin with a Thunderbolt," Cass commanded, smirking slightly at the floor master. With all five of her opponents submerged, she could cause considerable damage to all of them at once. Her Kecleon gladly obliged, scales taking on a yellowish hue as its tongue uncurled, drooping down to touch the water.

A frantic series of shrills came form the floor master's whistle as the chameleon's tongue came alive with electricity, small discharges crackling through the air around the prehensile appendage. The Gyrados reared out of the water nearby, howling with pain as the powerful charge traveled through the pool's water to leap across his armored scales. Accemenla took the opportunity to fire off a psybeam at him, apparently amused by his antics. Meanwhile, Furret, who had been about to reluctantly dive into the water at his trainer's command, balked and scurried back to the center of his float. He didn't want to be fried along with his foes. The psybeam connected with the Gyrados, slamming him up against the side of the pool. Water sloshed out violently, reaching for the judge but falling just short of him.

Though Tobias couldn't see the arena very well, as the sides of the pool were not raised enough to allow a person standing on the deck to see down into it at all, something seemed to be stopping Kecleon's attack from working. A dark stain appeared to be spreading across the water's surface, and Tobias couldn't tell what was causing it-he couldn't see the Pokemon, of course, and had no idea what sort of attacks the floor master was calling as the whistling kept up its rapid tattoo.

Chris appeared to be discussing something with George a couple of feet away, their Pokemon both idling, unsure of what to do. Both were clearly out of their elements, though Tobias doubted that the metal Pokemon needed to breathe, so it could probably go underwater just fine. Their inattention earned Chris the Meganium a nasty surprise as his namesake wasn't watching in order to warn him of the numerous sleek shapes approaching his position. Suddenly, the water around him exploded, two streamlined forms rocketing out of its familiar embrace and into the air. The floor master's Lanturn unleashed a thunderwave attack at point-blank range, the tendrils of electrical energy that radiated from its glowing lure wrapping around the grass-type's form and wreaking havoc on his nervous system. A Vaporeon flew through the air behind the bulky plant, letting out its own attack in the form of a blast of water. The icy jet froze upon impact, riming the hapless Meganium's skin with a layer of frost. More unfortunately, it shoved the grass-type closer to the edge of the platform. His reaction time severely reduced by the paralysis that now gripped him, he was unable to correct the situation in time, and the uneven distribution of weight caused the float to tip, dumping him into the water. Both water-types executed graceful backward somersaults midair, disappearing back into the pool in a perfectly coordinated maneuver, their job done for the moment.

Chris was far from graceful, however. He struggled to keep himself afloat, his four stubby legs definitely unsuited to the task. They proved generally unresponsive, alternately thrashing wildly and locking up for a terrifying second. The Meganium sank quickly, coughing and choking as he went down. "Quick, Metang!" George shouted, "Confusion! Help Chris out."

The floating creature's eyes lit up, glowing a baleful red as it raised its arms, the body of the panicking grass-type following their every move. It gently maneuvered Chris up and onto the platform once more before reverting to its previous idle position, awaiting further orders.

Meanwhile, Gyrados had recovered from the initial barrage that it had sustained. Its fins flaring, it howled with rage and attacked blindly, spewing a cloud of vibrant blue flames at Kelceon. The decidedly smaller lizard responded instinctively with a psybeam of his own, blasting some of the dragon rage attack off course but failing to deflect all of it. He gurgled in pain as the attack struck him, and wherever one of the strange blue flames licked at his skin it instantly changed color to match the hue of the draconic energy. Soon the chameleon was entirely blue. Gyrados, ignoring the commands of his trainer, who was clearly unable to get anything through to him with whistled commands, as she was now gesticulating angrily at him, lunged forward at its prey. Suddenly, Kecleon's platform soared into the air, borne aloft by a geyser of water that had apparently been crafted by some Pokemon lurking beneath it. Caught too close to its edge, the platform only rose about ten feet before it tilted dangerously and slipped from the jet of water, dumping Kecleon into the pool. Gyrados dived for him and he quickly released another thunderbolt, and though the water seemed to have suddenly lost most of its electric conductivity, he succeeded in keeping the massive serpent at bay as he paddled back to the platform and pulled himself on.

The battle rapidly deteriorated, the floor master's Pokemon making use of the advantage they held over their opponents. Vapreon and Lanturn burst from beneath the pool's now-murky depths unexpectedly, perfectly coordinated by the whistle blasts of their trainer. After a quick volley of attacks they melted back into the water once more, giving foes little time to react. The Omastar and the floor master's fifth Pokemon, a Quagsire, did their part by blasting platforms out from underneath Team Ghost's Pokemon at their leisure, never having to leave the pool's protection in order to attack. Gyrados, completely out of control, stormed the length of the pool, unleashing dragon rage attacks with reckless abandon.

Furret was on the verge of a nervous breakdown; he was cowering at the center of his float. When Vaporeon and Lanturn had attacked him, the only thing that had prevented him from being knocked into the pool and probably fainting from shock was that Vaporeon had rammed bodily into him, trying to do just that. Wild with terror, he had clung desperately to the water-type, clawing his way over her in a desperate attempt to remain on the platform and out of the water. The relative of Eevee had extricated herself with some difficulty and limped back into the pool, at trail of red marking her passage through the water.

Metang and Meganium were not particularly helpful, their trainers still locked in some sort of debate. As Tobias watched, a glowing haze surrounded the grass-type, a light screen attack. Giving up on trying to figure out what the other two boys were up to, Tobias turned his attention to Accemenla, who was simply sitting on her platform, eyes closed.

"Accemenla! Hey! What're you doing?" She didn't twitch.

_Quiet, you're breaking my concentration._

"What? What are you concentrating on?" Tobias asked. "How about concentrating on that Gyrados that's coming your way?"

_Oh, he's coming this way? _Accemenla responded, sounding amused. _Good. And I'm concentrating on finding that Omastar. _

"With your eyes closed?" Tobias said skeptically.

I haven't been able to see anything underwater since that Quagsire used mud sport. I'm looking for it with my mind-ah!

Omastar rose above the surface of the water, thick tentacles flailing as he struggled with the power of Accemenla's confusion attack. He sent a forceful burst of water at the offending Tarsix, but she hardly seemed to notice it. Nor did she seem to notice Gyrados, who was bearing down on her fast from behind. He opened his mouth wide, preparing to unleash a dragon rage at the psychic-type. Instead of filling with flame, he was surprised as his mouth filled with Omastar instead. Gyrados bit down instinctively, rock-crushing jaws fracturing the prehistoric creature's protective armor. In doing so he drove the short spikes that protruded from his teammate's shell deep into his palette. He let out a strangled roar, blood filling his mouth and trickling down the body of the writhing Omastar. He couldn't force his jaws far enough apart to release his teammate, whose every struggle aggravated the deep wounds on the inside of his mouth.

Accemenla was only too happy to help him out in this respect, wrenching the shelled Pokemon out in a spray of blood. Wielding her struggling weapon deftly, she clubbed Gyrados over the head with his teammate. He collapsed limply and was pronounced unable to continue the fight.

Accemenla retained her grasp on the heavily damaged Omastar, apparently considering who she should go after next with her newfound club, but her concentration was broken as Quagsire knocked her platform out from beneath her with a precise burst of water. She tumbled into the pool and Omastar reentered the water with a loud plunk. Scrambling back onto her platform, she growled indignantly. Tobias, astounded by her vicious battle tactics, decided that he was definitely going to have a talk with her after the challenge. He was reminded vividly of how the Girafarig on the first level had used Igneous as a weapon in much the same way that she had taken advantage of Omastar.

George and Chris were at last done strategizing and appeared ready to do something. The Meganium was now surrounded by two bubbles, the light screen that she had initially put up glowing a faint orange in contrast to the layer beneath it, a blue reflect attack. George commanded that Metang use confusion again, but this time he lifted Chris off the platform and lowered him into the water instead of raising him out of it. Tobias stared. What the heck were they doing?

Furret was knocked out by yet another guerilla strike from Vaporeon and Lanturn, Jenny recalling him resignedly. Tobias wondered, slightly irritated, why she had selected the normal-type when he was so obviously afraid of water. It seemed like something that you would know about your Pokemon if you had had them around long enough to evolve them.

"You know what to do, right, Chris?" Chris asked as his Meganium was being lowered into the water. His Pokemon nodded, and Tobias noticed that the water was parting before him. Apparently, the light screen and reflect were watertight, so he could descend into the depths of the pool without drowning, so long as they persisted. He soon disappeared from sight, but Metang continued to make lowering motions with its clawed hands, its eyes glowing, so Tobias guessed that it must still be guiding the Meganium down towards the bottom. But still…why?

Floor Master Swift must have guessed that something was afoot, as she called off Vaporeon and Lanturn, who had attacked Accemenla. At least, Tobias guessed that that was what she had done, as she was blowing her whistle a lot and they suddenly dove back underwater. The submerged Chris no doubt made an excellent target.

Suddenly, Metang's eyes reverted to their normal shade, and it let its metal arms droop lifelessly once more. Chris must have reached the bottom of the pool. Almost immediately after, light suddenly blossomed in the room. It was as though a miniature sun had appeared near the ceiling, the whole arena bathed in a blinding curtain of radiance. Accemenla screamed, clutching her face, and Tobias recalled her immediately. The sunlight only intensified, the temperature in the large room creeping up several degrees. Tobias felt ready to kick himself; this was what had happened at the last tournament. He only wished that he could have had some sort of notice that Chris was about to use sunny day. It was unlikely that Accemenla would be unable to battle on any of the later floors, as she had almost surely been temporarily blinded by the attack.

As the sunlight intensified, Metang sprang to life once more, zooming across the arena to scoop a surprised Kecleon up in its arms. The chameleon struggled in the mechanical Pokemon's grasp, his scales slowly turning a metallic hue as a result of his close contact with the steel-type. Metang did not relinquish its firm grasp, floating over to the very corner of the arena, nearly as far as it was possible to get to the edge without incurring a ring out.

Floor Master Swift had apparently changed her mind about what she wanted her Pokemon to do; her whistle shrilled frantically and she swept her arms outward. She was too late.

The water in the pool was lit from within, a sphere of light appearing in its depths. The water near the surface bubbled and hissed as the brilliance expanded. A massive column of light roared up through the water's surface, carrying a huge plume of liquid with it. Tobias shut his eyes, but found that he could see the attack even through his eyelids. Its heat seared his face, the huge solarbeam traveling nearly as high as the ceiling before finally dissipating, leaving Tobias to try to blink away the afterimage floating before his eyes. A light drizzle accompanied the beam's demise. Most of the water that it had picked up and hurled aside had evaporated almost instantly, but the rest was now making the return journey to earth, along with the floor master's Pokemon. None of them made any move to fight as they splashed down in the shallow water left at the bottom of the pool, and the floor master returned them all. One of the floats, likewise liberated from its place in the pool, bounced off Metang, but the steel-type barely noticed it. His metal body had shielded Kecleon from most of the attack, the fact that he had been fairly far away from the beam helping as well.

"All of Floor Master Swift's Pokemon have been eliminated. Team Ghost is the winner!" the judge announced unnecessarily.

"You are indeed very resourceful," the floor master admitted grudgingly. "Congratulations, you have completed your journey through the ocean."

The remaining Pokemon were recalled. The team congratulated Chris and George on their idea; who knew if they would have managed to scrape a win if they hadn't thought of it? Walking carefully around the edge of the pool, wary of slipping on the wet surface, they discovered that they would have to take another ladder back down to floor level before they could take the next staircase up.

Floor Master Swift glowered after the teenagers as they disappeared up the winding staircase one by one. They were clever enough, she'd give them that, but they clearly weren't learning much from the lighthouse challenge. The whole point of the five-on-five battles were to promote teamwork and cooperation. This team battled as a group of individuals working towards a common goal rather than a single unit, and only the collaboration of the boy with the Metang and the one with the Meganium had saved them in the end. What was worse, they obviously expected to continue winning on the same terms. She smirked. The next level would knock a lot of the arrogance out of them, that was for sure.

Meanwhile, the next group making the journey through the third level were very surprised to find an irate Snorlax lurking on a small rocky island. Fortunately, they were already too terrified to notice that it was actually just a very irate tournament staffer in a great deal too much padding.

If Team Ghost had found the previous three levels of the challenge surprising, they were completely floored by the fourth.

"There's nothing here," Jenny observed. And indeed, there wasn't. An empty room stretched before them, lit by the warm glow of sunlight steaming in through the windows and filled only with the sound of water droplets falling from Team Ghost's still sodden clothes. The tiled floor ran perfectly smooth all the way to the other side of the room, where Tobias could just make out the door and an arena marked out by white lines. No one appeared on duty there yet, however; they were seemingly the only humans on the level. Nothing particularly disturbing about it, really, except perhaps for the fact that it was completely _wrong._

"Err, you think the floor master went out for coffee?" Chris suggested. He had released Chris and Beth, the Blissey releasing a softboiled to ease her teammate's paralysis. The spicy scent wafted through the area, replacing the odd scent of bleach that seemed to hang in the air.

"Oh, come on, there's got to be more to it than that," Cass snapped. "Nothing could ever be this easy.

"You're right," George agreed.

"Nothing we can do about it," Tobias observed resignedly. All that they could do was take a shot at walking across and hope that nothing appeared out of nowhere and attacked them.

"Right, then let's get going," Cass said briskly. She began marching forward, the rest of the team following her lead. Their footsteps rang on the cold tiles, echoing eerily in the emptiness.

"So, err, Thomas, was it?" Jenny asked, trying to make conversation to fill up the void. Tobias nodded in response. "Right. Well, what was that Pokemon that you were using earlier? You know, the one that got rid of that Lugia robot."

"Oh, that was Accemenla," Tobias replied. "She's a Tarsix; that's a Pokemon that lives only in Waytar, so far as I know. She's a psychic-type."

"Yeah, I guessed," Jenny said. Apparently not as interested as she made out to be, she moved on to chat with someone else. "Say, Chris, why'd you name your Meganium after yourself?"

No one answered.

The group slowly came to a halt, everyone craning their necks and peering in all directions.

Chris was nowhere to be seen. His two Pokemon had vanished as well. The level was as empty as before, and deathly quiet now that their footsteps had ceased and most excess water run off of them.

"Come on, Chris, this isn't funny!" Cass yelled, voice quavering. George shook visibly, Metang's Pokeball in his hand as he apparently contemplated sending out his companion to aid him.

Still nothing. Chris had vanished without a trace. The group stood silently for a few more seconds, before Cass squeaked, "Well, there's no point waiting around for him. Wherever he's gone, he'll just have to catch up with everybody later."

Shaken, the rest of the group continued on. Tobias wished that he could pretend that Chris had only just had to go to the bathroom really badly and had darted back down the steps to ask Floor Master Swift if there was any way that he could get a pass to go. Somehow, he knew that it was otherwise.

George's death made that clear. He had begun forging out a bit ahead of the group, clearly unwilling to look like a chicken in front of the rest of his teammates. Cass was apparently only too willing to allow him to take the lead. As he stepped onto a tile, a distinct click was heard. He spun around on the spot, looking for what had made it.

He never knew what hit him. A huge light attached to one of the rafters high above plunged through the air, crushing him beneath its weight. Tobias hadn't even noticed the large hanging lamps; they had been turned off in every level that they'd gone to. Jenny and Cass screamed, but Tobias kept his mouth firmly shut, and his eyes as well. He fought to keep down his meager breakfast, trying not to relive the terrible moment as the lamp struck George, the horrible wet noise that it had made as it pulverized him…

Bleach. The floor smelled like bleach. _I bet tile isn't that hard to clean…_ But why? How could the tournament organizers do this? Surely they couldn't have meant…unless…

"Team Rocket!" Jenny shrieked hysterically. Tears streamed down her face as she clutched at Cass, who stood shakily in exactly the same spot she had stopped at when George had taken that fateful step forward. A mere two feet behind what was left of their comrade, she apparently couldn't register his death, staring blankly at the scene before her as the slowly expanding pool of blood began to lap at her sneakers. "Team Rocket! Team Rocket!" Jenny wailed, throttling her.

Suddenly, Cass seemed to come to herself, doubling over and vomiting. Tobias closed his eyes again, desperately trying to keep himself from following suit. Jenny took no notice of them, having let go of Cass just in time. She waved he arms around, sobbing incoherently. Cass backed away from the gruesome sight, shivering uncontrollably.

The three remaining members of Team Ghost stood, taking a few minutes to work through what had happened. Tobias pointedly kept his eye anywhere but pointed at skeleton of the lamp, remaining partially intact in its heavy metal frame, the bloody shards of glass littering the floor. Even Jenny calmed down to some extent, babbling wildly.

"I should have known! Oh, why didn't I think of it! Team Rocket! They took our Pokemon and items at the door…they have everything. Oh, no, Rapidash…they have Rapidash!" She broke off, sobbing once more, and her words slowly began to penetrate Tobias's shell-shocked consciousness. Was it possible? But no, the Lighthouse Challenge was an annual event. People would notice if the trainers who went in didn't come out.

"Who else would have Lugia robots?" Jenny howled, trying to rebut some invisible skeptic. "Who else would have damper fields to stop Pokeballs from working? Who else would have lights that-that…"

"Shut up, you idiot!" Cass burst out at last. She was crying, too, Tobias noticed. With a sudden shock, he realized that he was crying. This wasn't supposed to happen. Something had gone terribly, terribly wrong…a tiny voice somewhere in the back of his mind whined, _Why does this always happen to _me!

"Team Rocket doesn't control this competition! I participated last year, remember? Nothing like…like this ever happened!"

"So they took over the competition this time," Jenny snarled back, slowly becoming more rational. "They knew all kinds of trainers were going to be coming here, checking their Pokemon at the door and then entering the lighthouse, where none of the public would be able to see them. They spirit our belongings away to "safekeeping," then let us stumble to our deaths in here. They make their getaway while the rest of the world believes the tournament is still going on. By the time they discover whatever happens to be left of us, Team Rocket is-"

"I said, shut up!" Cass roared, advancing on Jenny, who quailed, whimpering. "This was just an accident. The light was just loose and happened to fall on him, that's all. That's all!"

"I don't think so," Tobias replied grimly, wiping his face. "I think she's right. It makes sense, doesn't it? And that tile was definitely booby-trapped."

"You're crazy, the both of you!" Cass yelled. "We've got to get help!"

"Back that way!" Jenny encouraged, pointing the way they had come. "We know it's safe that way! Maybe we can sneak back down a couple of floors and make it out!"

"I don't think so," Tobias growled. The door to the level had mysteriously shut behind them. "How much you want to bet the door's locked?"

"We have to try!" Cass argued back.

Tobias shook his head. "The only way that we can go is forward. If we can just make it to the top, then we've won. If we head back, they're bound to catch us."

"Fuck you," Cass snarled. Tobias was too mad, at the tournament for doing this to him, at Jenny for her sniveling and for bringing the Team Rocket idea into play, and at Cass for her blunt refusal to acknowledge reality, for the outburst to surprise him.

"Don't do it!" he shouted, stepping forward. "You don't know what it's like to have people after you! You can't go back!"

Cass wasn't listening to him. She was already running back towards the door. Tobias swore underneath his breath, following reluctantly. If she stepped on any tile that someone hadn't walked over already, there was the potential that-

Cass screamed as the tile that she had stepped on gave way beneath her, a surrounding section of floor following suit. She flailed, grabbing the edge of the hole as she dropped through. Tobias approached with caution. This made absolutely no sense! On the floor before he hadn't seen anyone come dropping through the sky! It was full of water, too, which might cushion someone's fall enough for them to survive. Unless…

There were boulders lining the room. If someone fell on one of those, from this height, they'd be dead. And if they timed the passage of groups through the challenge right, they wouldn't have to worry about people below seeing. They could just retrieve the body and clean up the rock, and voila! Ready to trap another innocent victim.

"Go, Nidoqueen!" Tobias was jerked out of his contemplation by the appearance of a brawny Pokemon next to him. For a terrible instant, Tobias thought that it was a Pokemon called forth to attack him by some Team Rocket member who had appeared out of nowhere. But no, it was Jenny, coming up level to him. He guiltily realized that he had been spacing out while Cass desperately tried to claw her way back up. Well, Nidoqueen was a strong Pokemon. Surely it could pull Cass out of the hole.

Surprisingly, the Pokemon just stood there, for some reason appearing unsure of what to do. "Nidoqueen!" Jenny said. The blue-scaled Pokemon's head turned, and Tobias's did as well. Jenny's tearstained face was oddly set, grim and determined. It was an expression that seemed completely alien on her normally cheerful face. She nodded once, very slowly and distinctly.

The Nidoqueen lumbered forward towards the helpless Cass. She stepped right up to the edge of the hole-and onto Cass's fingers.

Cass screamed again as the Nidoqueen slammed her foot down on Cass's hands, a distinct crunch accompanying the action. She contemptuously ground her foot on the tile, blood flooding out from beneath her heavy foot. She then released her weight, stepping back. Cass made one desperate attempt to grab the edge with her broken, mangled digits, but slid from sight and was gone, a terrified shriek that ended abruptly the last that Tobias heard of her.

He was frozen in place, unable to believe his eyes. He hadn't thought that it was possible to be more terrified than he had been a mere minute before, but apparently he had been wrong. Had Jenny gone mad?

He spun around to find her advancing on him, a horrible smirk plastered across her features. He stumbled back, trying to rally his muscles to run, but wasn't fast enough. Jenny grabbed him by the shoulder, and he gasped as her fingers dug into his flesh with a surprising amount of force.

"You, my friend, are not going anywhere," she announced.

"Jenny! You're…you're not thinking straight! Let go of me!" Tobias struggled wildly, but to no avail. "How could you do that to Cass?" he asked at last, when it became apparent that there was no escape. Maybe by keeping his cool he could count on Jenny to slip up, giving him the chance to escape. If he could get Igneous out, maybe he could fry her and he could make his getaway. He felt that he should be appalled to be planning such a thing, but self-preservation is a surprisingly powerful urge.

"What do I care for another piece of Johtoan filth?" Jenny snorted. "Although you must admit, my acting is superb, isn't it?"

"Johtoan filth? What do you mean? You're from…Johto…" Tobias's face would probably have been comical, had he been able to see himself and not distracted by the thought that his life was in peril.

Jenny…she had red hair and, as Tobias saw now, staring directly into her face, green eyes. Why hadn't he noticed before? Johtoan filth…

_Oh, Sol…_


	30. Loyalties

**Rating Warning: **This chapter is, again, rated PG-13 for reasons of violence, blood, and gore. No swearing this time, though.

This chapter was initially an alternate chapter, as I hadn't really decided whether I wanted to deviate from the plot that I had laid out or if I wanted to pursue a different course of action. In the end, however, I decided that the initial plotline that I had set out beame too bogged down, essentially filled with several inconsequential, long chapters, and that I would never get around to writing more actual plot stuff if I had to slog through them. This chapter has now become the official thirtieth chapter.

**Chapter 30: Loyalties**

Jenny grinned as she watched comprehension dawn on Tobias's face. She released her grip on his shoulder, as he was clearly too stunned to bolt or even, in fact, move. He appeared like you could, as the saying went, knock him over with a featherdance. Nidoqueen had already maneuvered around behind him, anyway, prepared to grab him if he should try to run.

"You…you can't be…" he squeaked at last.

Jenny found this response very amusing. Her grin broadening, she asked mockingly, "Can't be what, my dear Waytaran friend?"

Tobias was stunned into silence again. Jenny crossed her arms, growing irritated by the boy's mute stare and slightly agape mouth. How dense could you get?

"But how can you be out here?" Tobias said. "What about the shield?"

"The Council can turn the shield on and off at will," Jenny said, shrugging, "and they let me through. Perhaps I should ask the same question of you."

Tobias realized almost immediately the mistake that he had made. If Jenny wasn't someone who had used a dark-type to get out, like he had, it probably wasn't safe to mention his unusual luck. "It was an accident," he said vaguely, hoping that she would not pursue the matter.

"Clearly."

For another moment, the pair merely stood there, Tobias sweating visibly. He didn't like the way that Jenny was looking at him now; it was a cold, appraising look, almost as though she felt she had seen his face before and was trying to remember it. Trying to distract her, he asked, "But why did the Council let you out? Did you get exiled or something?"

"No," Jenny said simply. "The Council has to keep up with the affairs of the other regions, after all. I'm just one of their agents working in the Johto area, keeping an eye on this land's government and scientists to ensure that they don't inadvertently discover something that would be…dangerous…to Waytar."

"The council knows about the other regions?" Tobias gasped, completely stunned. Jenny merely raised an eyebrow and gave him a funny look in response. He mentally cursed his outburst; the answer to his question was incredibly obvious, appalling as it might be. He tried desperately to prevent himself from asking the question that was burning in his mind, but it was too late; it was already pouring out of his mouth. "Then why doesn't the Council let the rest of the region know about it? Why do they keep on saying that the rest of the world's gone, that Waytar's all that's left?"

"What good would the knowledge do the commoners?" Jenny snorted. "They're content as they are, secure in the knowledge that Waytar is the last stronghold of life on this planet, that they are a part of the greatest civilization that this planet has ever seen. And soon it won't matter anyway. I'm sure that you've seen the signs, as have I, that the legendaries are preparing for war again. And when they fight, they will surely battle to the death of the world this time. Waytar will truly be an oasis in a blasted desert then."

Memory gnawed at Tobias's thoughts. Raikou's translated message came back to him, _We were the only ones that could protect you then--and we're your only hope now. You think your puny island is safe? No one in this world is safe. _ He was sorely tempted to protest, but forced himself to remain silent. Contradicting Jenny would probably only make matters worse, and draw further attention to the fact that he was not here with the Guide's Council's permission. "Well, we can talk about this later," he announced, glancing nervously at the gaping hole in the floor nearby, the blood smeared around its edge making his stomach twist. He clenched his hands, pressing his fingers into his sweaty palms as he fought to remain in control.

Jenny made eye contact with her Pokemon, who was now looming behind Tobias's back. The Nidoqueen took a step forward, the boy jumping as she put her heavy blue-armored paws down on his shoulders, holding him fast.

"I don't see why you're in such a hurry," Jenny said, affecting to sound hurt. She pouted slightly, though the expression quickly degenerated into a smirk. "After all, Nidoqueen is more than a match for almost any Pokemon. With her around, I don't think we'll have to worry about Team Rocket as much. We have plenty of time."

"I don't think we should take that risk," Tobias said, the words a coming out bit faster and more fearful than he'd hoped.

Jenny ignored him. She began to pace back and forth in front of him, carefully crossing, Tobias noticed, an area of no more than three tiles square. "Now isn't this interesting," she mused, pretending to talk to herself, but clearly directing her words as Tobias. She shot him a glance as she walked past him. "I began my work in this region almost three years ago. The mission that I had worked on earlier was one that involved a certain notorious criminal, one Tobias Talltree of Firstseed."

The blood left Tobias's face, and he gave up any hopes of pretending innocence. Jenny continued, however, apparently enjoying the discomfort that she was causing him. No doubt she had been waiting for this moment for a very long time, if she had been assigned to his case earlier, he realized.

"My mission was successful," she continued, "and one of my underlings reported that he had successfully disposed of the undesirable character in a tidy manner. I soon found myself in a position of even greater power within the government, perhaps on my way to becoming a Council member myself one day."

"I'm…I'm glad you got him," Tobias said, forcing a weak smile.

"Unfortunately, not long after I had finished congratulating myself on getting that particular nuisance out of my hair, odd reports began to come in from Johto. Apparently, some strange boy had washed up in Cianwood, claiming to be from some previously unknown region called Waytar. The media ate up the story and soon news of the amazing discovery raged all around Johto, Kanto, Hoenn, and beyond. Search parties were organized, advanced satellite technology employed, and ancient texts scoured in the pursuit of the new region."

Tobias hadn't realized his story had been such a big deal. Sure, the reporters had hounded him for a while, but after a long crusade that turned up no results they had moved on to greener pastures. If your job was to monitor stories just like his, however…

"Apparently, our criminal was not as dead as we might have hoped. It took a great deal of intervention from our agents in the Johtoan media and the Mossdeep Space Center to make sure that the region remained undiscovered and that the story was largely forgotten."

Was it possible that the search for Waytar _had _really turned up some results? Jenny seemed to be suggesting that any findings were carefully covered up. A twinge of anger struck him, burning off the edge of his terror. Here was a girl who had, apparently, been working for several years to track him down and kill him. What sort of person would do that?

"I was reprimanded by the council for my failure to ensure the criminal's death and was, as punishment, sent to try once more to track him down, this time on the other side of the shield. It was fortunate that I was accepted into the ranks of the Waytaran government so early; the vast majority of trainers in this region are between ten and twenty, and I needed to be able to blend into the crowd. I traveled from city to city, gathering any information I could on a strange boy who carried chimes instead of Pokeballs and who kept with him a Murkrow. I followed his trail from NewBark to Ecruteak, losing track of him between there and Olivine. I journeyed on to the city anyway, figuring that he would come here next to complete his next gym battle. And lo and behold, who shows up in my team for this particular tournament?"

Tobias uncomfortably looked away as Jenny's eyes burned into his. "So," he said finally. "What are you going to do with me?" He had to keep her talking. He couldn't do anything to escape while the Nidoqueen was holding on to him or while she was staring at him, but maybe if he could distract her he'd be able to think his way out.

"I don't know," Jenny admitted, a calculating look coming across her face. "The real question is, are you more valuable to me alive or dead? This time, the only chance of completing my assignment is to give the Council a body…or rather, two bodies: yours and your foul Murkrow."

"We still have Team Rocket to get past," Tobias pointed out, "unless you were making that story up. I could help you escape, and if I was dead I'd only be a burden."

"How perfectly logical you can be when you're pleading for your life," Jenny chuckled. "And yes, it was true; Varnello warned me of the traitor on my team before we even entered the lighthouse. They need not concern us, however. Varnello is as we speak awaiting my command to teleport us out of here."

Tobias's mind whirled for what seemed the thousandth time in the last five minutes. Traitor on the team? Who could she possibly talking about? Cass was dead, George was dead, Chris was…gone. And this "Varnello"…he could only be a psychic-type. He didn't have much time then, or any sort of bargaining chip. Whatever the Pokemon was, it could get Jenny out in a second, and he wouldn't have a chance to run. He needed to act _now_.

"All right, I'll come quietly," Tobias said, trying to cover up his thoughts as agonized weighing of his options, concealing the calculated tone of his assurance with feigned reluctance.

"Will you, now?" Jenny said, amused. "I suppose that I may as well keep you around for a little while longer at least. I'm sure that it will be incredibly satisfying to watch you beg the Council for mercy after all the trouble you've caused me. Now, I think I'll just disarm you and call for our ride."

She stepped forward and bent down to removed the chimes from his belt. Tobias suddenly lashed out with one of his feet, the blow he dealt to Cass's stomach relatively weak as his movement was restricted by the Nidoqueen's firm grasp. Still, it was enough to knock her back, and as she stumbled away, coming dangerously close to the edge of the ragged hole in the level floor. With a bellow of worry for her trainer, the Nidoqueen shoved Tobias away and lunged forward to grab one of Jenny's flailing arms just before she tumbled backwards into the chasm. He fell hard, grunting as pain lanced through his side, but reached immediately to his belt, grabbing Igneous' Pokeball and Jinx's chime.

"Help me out, you guys," Tobias gasped, rather winded. He rang Jinx's chime and allowed Igneous' ball to drop to the floor, the two Pokemon materializing quickly. Though obviously confused by the situation, they seemed to catch Tobias's fear and braced themselves, awaiting some sort of explanation. "Jinx, I want you to distract that Nidoqueen. Igneous," Tobias paused, suddenly losing his nerve. He didn't really want to hurt Jenny badly…

But Nidoqueen had pulled her guide back to safety and was turning to face Tobias again, rage apparent in her features. Jenny glared at him venomously and opened her mouth to issue an order of her own, no doubt to order her to restrain him once more, and probably be none too gentle about it. What choice did he have? She was prepared to kill him, or worse. "Igneous, use fire punch on Jenny," he gulped.

Jinx was already moving, launching a night shade attack at Nidoqueen. The advance of the burly Pokemon was halted as she ran into the disorienting attack. Batting ineffectually at shadows, she roared angrily as Jinx darted around her head, worrying at her face.

Igenous was not so quick to comply. In fact, he whirled around, staring at Tobias in disbelief. He seemed to be waiting for Tobias to repeat himself. "Fire punch on Jenny," Tobias said, trying to make the order firm and not convey any of his inner turmoil to his Pokemon.

Unfortunately for him, Igneous was already experiencing enough inner turmoil about the order on his own. How could Tobias ask him to attack another human? He knew that Jenny probably wouldn't survive a fire punch, or would suffer terribly if she did. What was going on?

Igneous, still hesitating, glanced back at the battle behind him. Nidoqueen had escaped from nightshade only to be hit in the face with a pursuit attack. She howled and clawed at the burning black mass that had covered her eyes, drowning out Jenny's shouts for her to finish the bird off. For some reason the teammates were now fighting each other. Tobias was struggling to get back to his feet, every muscle tense as though he was ready to run at any second. There was a large hole in the floor nearby, its edges slick with blood…

Suddenly, it clicked. Igneous' body temperature soared, the air around him rippling with heat as the flames shooting from his body grew higher. That was it, wasn't it? Something had gone terribly wrong and Tobias was trying to get rid of Jenny, so he was going to have Igneous fire punch her. Ingeous would become a murderer, but his hands would stay clean, of course, and hopefully his getaway would be, too. Of course, that didn't really take into account the fact that Igneous might not be so thrilled to have the death of a human hanging over his own head. Was that all he was to Tobias, then? A convenient tool to use whenever he didn't feel like doing something himself?

Tobias's eyes widened in horror as Igneous flared up in a blazing display of rage. "No, wait!" he gasped, realizing too late what he had done. "It's not what it looks like! Really!" In the background, Nidoqueen at last landed a successful hit on Jinx, knocking the bird out of the air with a heavy paw. Igneous advanced on Tobias, the heat of his body effectively burning the rest of the water trapped in his damp clothes away. He was stunned; Igneous wasn't willing to attack Jenny, but it appeared that he was preparing to carry out his orders on Tobias instead.

The Magar's orange coloration faded to a flat red, and suddenly the heat rolling off his body was severely reduced, the energy that he had become returning to the Pokeball now lying on the tiles. Tobias gave a sigh of relief, only to have it cut short as Nidoqueen grabbed his arm with a crushing grip. Tobias gave a yell of pain as the bones in his arm erupted with agony, nearing the breaking point beneath the Pokemon's crushing grip. Nidoqueen grabbed his other shoulder in a likewise viselike grip, ignoring his squirming, as an irate Jenny, holding a limp Jinx out at arm's length like a dirty rag, marched up to him.

"Oh, very clever," she snarled as Nidoqueen dragged Tobias backwards, away from his abandoned Pokeball and chime. She bent down to retrieve them, ringing Jinx's chime to draw him back in. "I suppose you can still keep that last one," she decided. "That Tarsix isn't going to be doing much of anything without some considerable medical help."

She walked up to the still-struggling Tobias and her Nidoqueen, staying to the large Pokemon's side, out of kicking range as she placed a hand upon one blue-armored shoulder. _Ready when you are, Varnello, _she thought grimly.

Chris shut the door to the fourth level as quietly as he could, making sure to lock it behind him. He then descended the winding stairs, taking them two at a time, only to stop short when he reached the waist-deep water of the third level, lapping hungrily at the last few steps. He stared thoughtfully out into the misty level before him, eyes traveling up to the huge pool structure rising out of the water directly in front of him. Smiling slightly to himself, he jumped off of the stairs and straight into the water below.

Ignoring the shock of the icy water that splashed up all around him, he pushed off as soon as he felt his feet touch the bottom of the pool. His powerful leap sent him soaring through the humid air of the room to land neatly atop the pool deck, only a few feet from Floor Master Swift.

If she was fazed by the sudden appearance of a Blaziken on the pool deck, she gave no sign. Sitting cross-legged on the damp concrete, she was intent on the laptop sitting before her, fingers flying across its keys. "Reporting for duty, Megan," the Chris said with a grin, giving her a mock salute.

The floor master glanced disinterestedly over the top of her screen. "That's Admin Swift to you," she growled reproachfully.

"Whatever you say, Megan," Chris replied cheekily, sitting down and swinging his long legs over the edge of the pool deck. He irritably fluffed out his downy feathers, shaking off the water droplets still clinging to his lower legs after his short dip in the water.

Admin Swift favored him with a scathing look. "Status report, Chris."

"Oh, right, that," the Blaziken replied, removing his sunglasses and absently fiddling with them. "So far as I could tell, everything's going to plan," he said. "They didn't suspect anything when they entered the room, and they seemed to forget about me all together. There's no way they're going to make it out alive, I assure you. If the traps don't finish them, Admin Granite will. Oh, and I remembered to lock the door this time."

"Good," Admin Swift replied, leaving off typing for a minute to stretch. "The next batch should be through here in about fifteen minutes. Jake says they've lost two so far already, so it shouldn't be hard to get rid of them. A pity about the robot, though. Still, I suppose those four nitwits will get their comeuppance shortly."

"Jake?" Chris asked, puzzled. "Where?" Exasperatedly, the floor master pointed to the judge, who was holding a walkie-talkie up to his face and carrying on a conversation with someone at the moment. "Wow," the Blaziken said. "I didn't even recognize him in that dorky judge getup."

"Back on topic," Admin Swift said sharply, "I'd say your performance with this group was fairly good."

"Aww, you flatter me," Chris butted in. He gave an irrepressible grin in response to the floor master's very cold look.

"Sweet and Thorn both said that you seemed to have successfully lulled your teammates into believing that you weren't a threat of any sort. Whoever gave you that blissey for your team had the right idea, too; it made you too important for the group to leave in the dust, but not important enough for them to take any real notice of. However, you made a serious error in dubbing that loaner Meganium of yours Chris."

"Bite me," Chris responded, opening his beak to reveal two miniature Crobat fangs.

Admin Swift was unfazed.

"All right, all right," the Blaziken sighed, wilting as his fangs shrank to nothing. "What was so bad about that, though? I mean, Kyle named me Chris. Is it such a bad name for a Pokemon?"

The floor master gave a small smile, clearly pleased by Chris's relatively couth reply. "No, though it is fairly rare for trainers to give their Pokemon human names. They never really name Pokemon after themselves, though."

"And why not?" Chris asked huffily.

The floor master shrugged. "It's difficult to explain. Most trainers don't like to think of Pokemon as in any way equal to themselves, and to name one after them would almost be implying that they see themselves in that Pokemon. I guess it's just not acceptable by the standards of society."

Chris was actually quiet for a couple of moments, mulling this over. Admin Swift, apparently relieved by the brief span of silence and seeing that the Blaziken was about to ask something else, moved quickly to get rid of him. "I think that you should report back to the main registration area to pick up your next team for monitoring. I believe that they're up to Team Ice."

"Sure, Megan," Chris said, leaping to his feet and giving another false salute. He winked at Admin Swift with one beady eye before settling his dark glasses back into place. He gave one powerful leap, and by the time he reached its apex his stubby forearms had melted smoothly into swept-back blue wings. The ditto, now in Swellow form, banked sharply and rocketed through an open window set high into the wall of the lighthouse.

Admin Swift returned to her computer work, carefully going through the files of the trainers that had been registered for the tournament in search of anything of interest. One name gave her pause. She peered intently at the screen, scanning the information for one Thomas Goldspur.

Tobias had never been teleported before, and once his brain had stopped acting as though it had been steamrolled across hot tarmac, he resolved not to try it again. As the distant Varnello took hold of Nidoqueen and her companions, Tobias felt as though he were being stretched in all directions at once, and as the scene around him broke up into a mere series of blurry colors, Tobias was unable to tell whether it was actually a result of the teleportation or from the tears that streamed down his face from the pain. His head pounded and he hoped very much that he would black out as his every molecule was ripped out of reality one by one and shipped none too gently to some other spot in the universe.

He felt that it was almost a blessing when he arrived at his destination, lair of a Waytaran agent or no. He sagged limply in Nidoqueen's powerful grasp, and the mighty pokémon herself had apparently felt the effects of the transfer herself, for her grip on him seemed quite a bit less firm than it had been before as she struggled to remain standing as carpet materialized beneath her massive feet. Jenny, for her part, seemed largely unaffected by the teleport.

Tobias was still waiting for the room to come back into focus and for his headache to recede as she grabbed a Pokeball from somewhere and called forth a Dodrio before recalling Nidoqueen. Tobias collapsed backward as she did, deprived of the support the rock-solid creature had provided. His lack of balance earned him another skull-splitting jolt of pain as the back of his head collided with a table of some sort on its way towards the floor. He was reduced to groaning and rubbing the back of his head for several more seconds, eyes tearing up again and obscuring his vision once more.

Once his field of vision cleared, however, he realized that he was not in the bowels of some sort of secret base but rather in a fairly nice hotel room. Jenny was over at the chest of drawers against the other wall, rummaging through what appeared to be her pack. On the bed to his right was Varnello himself, sitting cross-legged. The Alakazam's massive head, appearing grotesquely bloated in comparison to the rest of his twiglike body, was bowed in meditation, his luxuriant mustaches cascading down over his knees.

Sitting up slightly, Tobias craned his neck to try to see over the beds that flanked him on either side. A glance over his shoulder confirmed that the piece of furniture that he had become acquainted with earlier was in fact the night table. The room seemed oddly dim, and Tobias observed that the curtains were drawn, despite the fact that it was a nice enough day outside. He wondered if the lack of light was supposed to help Varnello's concentration by removing distractions or if it was simply because Jenny was paranoid about people finding out that she was Waytaran.

As Tobias pulled himself weakly to his feet, his muscles aching as though he had just run for miles, he was greeted by a trio of harsh cackles. Six suspicious black eyes glared at him as he rose and sat on the edge of the unoccupied bed, the Dodrio that Jenny had called out earlier turning its attention towards him. Tobias had never seen one of the bizarre triple birds up close before, and found them much more comical in appearance at this distance than from afar. One of the bird's three heads had a distinctly morose air, eyeing him with a resigned air. The one to the far right was almost the exact opposite, and if it didn't have a beak that made it rather difficult to create facial expressions Tobias was sure that it would have worn a goofy, madcap grin plastered across its face. Fortunately, there was a head separating the two from each other, else the dour one would probably have murdered the other by this point, but in truth it disturbed Tobias more than either of the others.

This head wore a blank, almost impassive expression, its eyes revealing nothing of what might lurk behind them. Somehow, however, Tobias had the distinct impression that it was sizing him up, coolly assessing him and determining whether or not he was a true threat. Forcing down a shiver, Tobias decided that it was time to see if he could pry some more answers out of Jenny. "So, now you've got me. How exactly do you plan to get us back to Waytar?"

"I'll have Varnello teleport us, of course," Jenny said flippantly, as though the transoceanic teleport was a walk in the park. As Tobias spared another look for the psychic-type, he decided that she might be right. An almost palpable sense of potential seemed to hang in the air around the Alakazam, causing it to seem unnaturally heavy and charged, almost like the atmosphere before a powerful storm.

"Just like that?" he asked. "What about all of your stuff? Aren't you going to get it back from the Rockets first?"

"Oh, no, I have my items here already," Jenny said with her back still turned to him, digging through her pack in search of something. "I had Varnello teleport them back here with him when he found out about Team Rocket. It's yours that I'm after."

"Huh?" Tobias asked, surprised.

"Oh, and I suppose you'd prefer that I leave all of your other pokémon to rot with the rockets while I take you into custody?" she asked sarcastically, pulling what she had been searching for out of her pack. As she turned back around, Tobias saw that it was her Pokedex. "I'm going to stop at the Pokemon center and have my Pokemon healed, too."

"I hadn't thought that you would really care about my Pokemon enough to delay our trip to Waytar and walk back into a rocket-controlled area in order to go and rescue them," Tobias said suspiciously.

"I don't," Jenny replied. "I just need to do a thorough job of getting rid of you, that's all. The Council wants me to erase as much of your existence as possible. Ideally, within a year or so almost no one will remember that a Waytaran was ever here in Johto, and those that do won't have any concrete evidence to back it up."

This was considerably less comforting than the notion that Jenny was off to rescue some innocent Pokemon out of the goodness of her heart, but Tobias supposed that he had asked for it by prodding her further.

"Dodrio will be keeping an eye on you while I'm gone," Jenny continued. She then addressed the Pokemon himself, "He's allowed to wander around in here, but make sure he doesn't leave and keep him away from my stuff." All three of Dodrio's heads nodded, and Jenny moved to stand by Varnello. "I shouldn't be gone long. Half an hour or so, I would guess," she announced as she laid a hand on the psychic-type's shoulder. "Enjoy yourself, Talltree. I'm sure it's the last chance that you'll have to do so in a good long while."

Varnello, acting on some unseen command, raised his head and his spoons. His eyes remained closed, but his spoons glowed with a faint blue light, the air between them warping as it was affected by the buildup of psychic energy. Alakazam began to wave the mystical cutlery in small circles, the left hand counterclockwise and the right, clockwise, and the distortion quickly spread to engulf the Alakazam and his guide. Then they both disappeared as the ripples of energy suddenly reversed direction, seeming to suck the two travelers into a tiny hole in space, which closed up again as soon as they had passed through it. Tobias was left staring at an empty bed, wondering what he was to do.

Dodrio didn't seem to mind his guard duty terribly. The sad head almost immediately fell asleep, and the happy one grabbed the TV remote and began channel surfing. The middle head, however, kept a constant watch on Tobias, hardly blinking as its cold eyes bored into the helpless boy. Resigned to half an hour of uneasy waiting, Tobias lay back on the bed and watched TV half-heartedly. Unfortunately, the right head seemed to have some odd obsession with the home shopping network, which Tobias did not find terribly interesting. He tried to discreetly reach for the remote, which the bird had put down at the end of the bed, but was rewarded with angry croaking from the middle head, and he sighed and gave up.

Succumbing to boredom, he forced himself to think back over the events of the past couple of hours. It was hard to imagine that he had left the Pokemon center that morning happy, thinking that things were finally looking up. His day had really gone downhill from there, hadn't it? The law had finally caught up with him, proving to have a reach far longer than he would have imagined, and he had seen two people die fairly violently within minutes of each other. No, things were definitely not going well for him.

The shopping channel was finally losing its appeal, and Dodrio's right head picked up the remote again, changing to a news station. The anchor appeared, halfway through his report.

"--absent. The Mossdeep Space Center refuses to disclose the reason that they requested the aide of the three professors on such short notice. Rumors abound, however, that something has gone wrong with the recently launched surveyor satellite. Others note, however, that the three professors have never before been called to help at the Center at once and hypothesize that some incredibly important--and perhaps dangerous--discovery has been made…"

Tobias perked up slightly as he heard this. So that was why Professor Elm hadn't been answering his Pokenav. Apparently, he didn't want to be disturbed while working on whatever-it-was that was going on in the Space Center. Though as he thought about it, a chilling explanation for the unprecedented call for all three professors occurred to him. Hadn't Jenny just talked about the need to erase all traces of Tobias? Earlier, she'd mentioned having inside agents at the Space Center. The three professors would no doubt remember the Waytaran well, under normal circumstances…

He shook his head to try to drive such morbid thoughts out of his mind, but couldn't help but feel worried for the three great men. Surely they could take care of themselves. Dodrio changed channels again, finding coverage of a battle tournament in Vermillion City to celebrate the return of the S. S. Anne from her annual trip around the world. Currently, an Arcanine was getting pulverized by a Rhyhorn.

Tobias went back to thinking. There had to be some way out of this mess. Perhaps he could slip away from Jenny when they were back on Waytaran soil, though it was doubtful. Her Dodrio made an excellent guard, as one head could always remain awake to watch while the other two slept, so even if she couldn't keep an eye on him, her Pokemon could.

If only he could get another chance to use his Pokemon; if he could defeat her in battle, then he could probably make his getaway. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to have any mind to heal them, which would leave him with only Chevron and Igneous, and Igneous was…

Tobias winced inwardly as he remembered the scene on the fourth level of the lighthouse. He could see why Igneous had refused to obey him; imagine being asked to murder someone like that! It wasn't right for him to ask his Pokemon to do that. Now, of course, he would have to try to explain to Igneous the situation and apologize, and then probably spend some time regaining the fire-type's trust. It was time he didn't have. Feeling worse than before, with guilt laid thickly over his apprehension, Tobias watched the violence onscreen dully. The Arcanine had made a surprise comeback and was now using its superior speed and maneuverability to run rings around the slow, plodding rock-type. The rhyhorn was ready, however, as the fire dog leapt in to finish it off, spinning around with surprising agility to meet the Arcanine's bite attack head on. Just as the two were about to collide, the screen suddenly went blank, only to be replaced by a message which read, "We interrupt this program to bring you urgent news." The battle was replaced by a news desk, the anchor sitting behind it grim-faced.

"We have just received word from Olivine police that the annual Lighthouse Challenge competition has been taken over by Team Rocket and that participants are being systematically robbed and killed in the course of the obstacle course that makes up the first segment of the Challenge. Olivine police were alerted to the situation when the organizers of the actual tournament, who had been kidnapped by Team Rocket late last night in order to prevent interference with their plan, succeeded in overpowering their captors and alerting the authorities. Police are now moving in on the scene and attempting to rescue those contestants who have yet to begin the challenge. Roadblocks have been set up at the city's limits to prevent the rockets from shipping themselves and the spoils of their crimes out of Olivine and a psychic barricade is being set up to ensure that team members are unable to teleport out of harm's way as well. All citizens are being asked to call the police department should they see any suspicious black vans, as the team is believed to have loaded the Pokemon taken from dead trainers into such vehicles for transportation. The Olivine police chief would like to assure all citizens that 'Proper measures are being taken to ensure the apprehension of the criminals involved in this terrible act.' Thus far, it has not been determined whether the annual Olivine Lighthouse Celebration will continue as planned or be halted by this crime."

The announcer disappeared, the screen announcing that they were returning to the program currently in progress, but now both Tobias and Dodrio were no longer seeing the raging battle as they stared at the television. The Lighthouse Challenge had been revealed for what it truly was, which was undeniably good, but now Jenny was going to have to dodge both rockets and police officers in her search for Tobias's items. Not only that, but the psychic barrier set up around the city would prevent them from leaving for Waytar, for the time being at least. That was good, Tobias reflected. He hoped that Jenny wouldn't return, that she would either be killed by a rocket or apprehended by a police officer, but then he would still have the matter of Dodrio to deal with, not to mention that Chevron would be recaptured by the rockets. Despite the sharp tinge of guilt from thoughts of the possible abandonment of his Linoone, he set about planning his escape with renewed gusto, determined to capitalize on the unfortunate turn of events however possible.

Dodrio became increasingly nervous as the hours passed, noon coming and going. Tobias soon began to feel hungry, and he could tell that Dodrio was, too. Dodrio had switched to the news on TV again, apparently hoping to see updates on the situation at the Lighthouse. None were forthcoming, however, and the bird became increasingly agitated.

It was nearly one in the afternoon when the air above the other bed shimmered disconcertingly, reality bending and warping as the rest of the world moved aside to allow Varnello and Jenny to return to the hotel room. This time, the girl appeared much more affected by her travels. She staggered slightly as she materialized, but Tobias was more concerned with his pack, which she was clutching, than her well-being. Surprisingly, Varnello appeared rather taxed as well. His huge head drooped, his psychic powers apparently so depleted that he had difficulty holding it up. He slumped, exhausted, on the bed, sprawled out in a very human position of defeat and fatigue, contrary to the usual air of mysticism and holier-than-thou that normally surrounded Alakazam.

"Run into trouble?" Tobias asked, not taking his eyes from his backpack.

"Oh, yes," Jenny growled, brushing a strand of red hair out of her face. She was considerably disheveled, and she tossed his pack unceremoniously to the top of the coffee table near the window. He winced slightly, hoping nothing was damaged, as it landed with a loud clunk. "It turns out that they had discovered our absence much more quickly than I had assumed. There was a Kadabra tracking our teleports, so we had to keep on moving around to try to throw him off, not to mention that your stupid stuff was already on one of their vans and headed out of the city."

Jenny was working herself up into a full towering wrath, but Tobias could care less. She was planning to drag him off somewhere to get executed anyway, so there really wasn't any worse that she could do to him in the interim. "I'm so sorry," he said sarcastically.

"Don't try and be smart, or I'll have Dodrio peck your eyes out," Jenny threatened. Tobias decided to revise his policy on provoking her. "Where was I? Oh, yeah, and then the police had to get involved, so we were running from them, too, because they thought they were rockets, and that stupid Kadabra and her partner were still after us when they put up that psychic field around the city. Turns out that not only can no one leave, but it's pretty hard to teleport around inside the borders, too. Varnello only barely managed to drag us back here, and as you can see, it didn't sit well with him."

Indeed, the Alakazam had returned to his crossed-legged meditative position on the bed, but was now clutching his massive skull as though he had a very painful headache. "So of course we won't be able to leave the city now until the roadblocks and psychic shield are taken down." Jenny sat down on the bed next to her Alakazam. "Did he behave himself?" she asked Dodrio, whose three heads were now all awake. They nodded and cackled something affirmative.

After a few minutes in which Jenny merely sat and stared broodingly at the floor, Tobias hesitantly asked, "I don't suppose that there's any chance we could get some lunch, is there?"

"Ugh, I don't think I'll be able to eat anything for a while," Jenny groaned in response, still looking at the floor. "That last teleport really scrambled my stomach. There's some food in my pack, though; Dodrio, get him a sandwich or something. You can have lunch, too. There's Pokemon food in there."

Dodrio obligingly fished a rather squashed peanut butter and jelly sandwich out of Jenny's backpack and tossed it to Tobias, who tore away the plastic that it had been wrapped in and wolfed it down. As he did so, however, he watched Jenny carefully out of the corner of his eye. She was now holding her head like Varnello. Dodrio was squabbling over the Pokemon food, all three heads jockeying for position. Consequently, processed food pellets were flying all over the place, and the bird was rather distracted. Perhaps if he could just slide a little closer to the end of the bed he'd be able to lunge and grab chevron out of his pack really fast, before anyone could react. Sure, it wouldn't be wise to pit his Linoone against all of Jenny's Pokemon, but it was worth a shot…

As he inched sideways on the bed getting into position for his sudden mad dash to his pack, however, the middle Dodrio head left off squabbling, extricating itself from the fight between the left and right heads so that it could glare at him and hiss, its black crest feathers rising. The other two heads noticed the disturbance and temporarily agreed to a truce so that they could get a good glare in on Tobias too. He sighed and halted his progress, giving up any hope of escape at this point. Dodrio was simply too attentive to his position.

Both Jenny and Varnello soon fell asleep, leaving Dodrio on guard duty again. Tobias was treated to another excruciatingly boring period with nothing to do but watch TV. The only mildly interesting item that he saw was a short segment on the Skarmory epidemic, which claimed that the metal birds were disrupting the ecosystem on all levels and described the mysterious decline of many species, though the populations of other seemed to be shooting up for some unknown reason, the Nido and Psyduck families most notably. Dodrio didn't let Tobias out of his sight except to use the bathroom, and even then he had the uncomfortable knowledge that the bird was waiting just outside the door, prepared to smash it down should it suspect that he was up to anything.

Eventually, Tobias was reduced to simply lying on the bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling as the television's chatter washed over him, thinking. How long was Jenny going to _sleep_? He was beginning to think that being beheaded or whatever it was they were planning for him back in Waytar would be better than just lying here, bored senseless. He would probably have fallen asleep himself, were it not for his stomach's discomfort. It seemed to consider a couple of granola bars and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich insufficient to cover his energy usage for today and was irritably demanding something more substantial.

It was hard to say exactly when Tobias realized that something was wrong. It just seemed as though, inexplicably suddenly, he realized that he couldn't raise his head. Indeed, his body seemed to have become incredibly leaden, though he could only barely comprehend this, as his brain seemed unusually sluggish. _Good, then,_ Tobias decided. _At least now I'll be able to get to sleep. _His stomach's complaints seemed distant and unreal. Slumber was incredibly enticing, but now the TV seemed to be intent on intruding into his thoughts. Dodrio was flipping channels at a breakneck speed, the TV's usual banter becoming a jumble of stuttering audio and flickering images that strobed in a very annoying fashion. Then, suddenly, it stopped, the remote falling to the carpet with a muffled thud. Tobias tried to sit bolt upright, adrenaline surging through his veins, but was hindered by the fact that his muscles were still reluctant to respond. _Dodrio was asleep! _The right head apparently succumbed to slumber with the remote in its beak, unconsciously biting down on it and changing channels, before losing its grip on the object as its head sagged and its beak lolled open. Even the middle head had apparently fallen into a fitful slumber.

This was his chance. Tobias struggled against his odd lethargy, dragging himself into a sitting position and trying to stagger to his feet. It was then that he noticed the odd shimmer in the air. The room was filled with thousands of airborne specks that glittered in the watery light of the television screen. Only then did Tobias truly begin to worry. He forced himself to his feet, carefully avoiding bumping Dodrio, and began to creep towards his pack.

Then he noticed that the room had gained a new occupant. Something was oozing in through the crack under the door, something translucent and a vibrant bubblegum pink. Perhaps against his better judgment, Tobias decided that Jenny should know about this. She had the most Pokemon, after all, and was no doubt the room's best means of defense. In his current state, Tobias didn't feel as though he could even issue a coherent battle command, much less deal with some sort of Ditto break-in.

"Jenny," he hissed, poking her. He never took his eyes from the ditto, which had had to flatten itself out a great deal to fit under the door but which was now almost all of the way through. Jenny didn't respond. "Jenny," he said again, louder. He shook her slightly and at last got some response. She mumbled blearily and then clutched at her head again.

"Jenny, there's a Ditto coming into our room under the door. You wouldn't happen to know him, would you?"

"…what?" she asked blearily. Tobias glanced over his shoulder at the ditto, which was now completely under the door, its beady black eyes turned upon the two humans. A small smirk graced its malleable face as its body suddenly began to work, stretching outwards and upwards in a sudden explosion of growth. Tobias pointed mutely at the Ditto.

As the two watched, the Ditto reached its full height, and as Jenny raised herself up on her elbow to peer at it, it settled into a definite human shape. A rather familiar human shape, in fact.

"Mew," Jenny hissed as she jumped from the bed and shoved Tobias out of the way, apparently far less affected by whatever soporiphic substance it was that had filled the room than he, perhaps because she had already been asleep when the attack hit. Tobias, on the other hand, wasn't able to react fast enough to regain his balance properly, head still fuzzed by the strange powder that permeated the air. He flailed his arms and staggered slightly, but as his every move seemed to take place in slow motion, he only succeeded in wobbling slightly before keeling over.

_Oh, Sol, not again, _was all that he had time to think before his thoughts were drowned out by a massive explosion of pain followed by a brief spell of darkness as his forehead smacked the edge of the nightstand with considerable force. Tobias might have considered simply lying there, facedown on the carpet, were it not for the fact that he had seen what had galvanized the bleary Jenny into sudden action.

The Ditto had taken the form of Chris, mimicking the trainer exactly, save for his small, beady Ditto eyes, which he apparently did not have the power to transform. Tobias hauled his upper body up the side of the bed, rubbing his head ruefully with his left hand while scrabbling at the coverlet with his right, just in time to witness the Ditto-Chris wink and give a small wave to Jenny while opening the door with his free hand. Jenny had bumped Dodrio on her way past; the bird was slowly rousing itself, seemingly able to shake off the effects of its drugged sleep much more easily than Tobias had.

Jenny had almost reached the door as it began to swing open, admitting a tall, thin trainer with a shock of very short blonde hair on his forehead, wearing a heavy winter jacket, which, though slightly overdoing it for the brisk fall weather outside, Tobias would ordinarily not have thought anything more of. It suddenly became very unusual, however, when the boy calmly drew a gun out from under the jacket and fired it at the inhabitant of the room who appeared to pose the most immediate threat to him--in this case, Jenny, who was bearing down on him fast.

The gun had obviously been modified, as it made no sound as it sent a bullet speeding into Jenny at point-blank range. She crumpled, probably completely unaware of what had hit her. Tobias later wondered if it was true that the rocket was using a silenced gun or whether he had simply not registered the sound of the shot, instead focusing entirely on the image of Jenny suddenly missing as step and falling to the carpet, where she lay unmoving. Somehow, the crime seemed more horrific than what he had witnessed in the Lighthouse, one person directly killing another rather than using the sinister, detached traps employed in that fateful level. Again, time seemed to have slowed, though whether it was because Tobias had suffered a minor concussion as a result of his contact with the nightstand and was beginning to slip into unconsciousness, or because his perception was so heightened by the amount of adrenaline coursing through his veins that he could actually take in every subtle movement associated in the killings. Whatever the case, the scene brought the grim thought to his mind: _Jenny is dead, and I may well be next!_

But in fact, it was Dodrio who lunged at the gunman, no doubt a rocket who had somehow caught up with Jenny, who next made it into the line of fire. The rocket had obviously been hoping for a quick, quiet operation from his careful attempt to neutralize the threat within the hotel room and his use of a silenced weapons, but Dodrio banished any hope that his crime might go unnoticed for a while. All three heads gave an unearthly shriek as their guide met her end, all thought of sleep forgotten seemingly instantly. _Early bird, _the trainer part of Tobias's brain registered distractedly.

The bird darted forward but the killer was ready, unloading another bullet into the oncoming Pokemon. It struck Dodrio squarely in the chest, undoubtedly lodging in the bird's heart. The bird staggered, blood pouring from the wound as the man turned his attention to Varnello the Alakazam, who had apparently been roused by Dodrio's scream of wrath. He took aim at the Alakazam's vast braincase, only have the gun torn from his hand by one of the Dodrio heads.

The rocket had apparently forgotten that Dodrio have three hearts. The bird set upon the man, stabbing frantically with all three sharp beaks and despite the weeping wound in its chest. The man gave a cry of his own and a knife appeared in his hand, another weapon spirited out of his jacket. He slashed at Dodrio, opening several deep gashes in the Pokemon's breast. Behind him, Ditto-Chris had shut the door to the room and now affected a sudden transformation into a Raichu, preparing to leap to the aid of his master.

It was too late, however; one of Dodrio's beaks found the man's eyes and the bird showed no mercy, driving its four-inch-long beak into his right eye and straight through the back of the socket, ripping into the brain beyond. His weak struggles only jiggled the razor sharp weapon in the wound, causing further damage as the bird struggled to unmire its beak. It wasn't fast enough, and a blast of furious electricity so powerful that Tobias's hair rippled in the unseen electromagnetic field roared through its body. Dodrio fell atop his dead foe, shuddering and kicking spasmodically.

The Ditto-Raichu had murder in its button eyes, sparks dancing in the air around it, apparently preparing for another deadly blast. It was looking at Tobias…

But Varnello had awoken. With a cry of anguish the Alakazam took in the scene, and in another second the Raichu was slammed into the wall with such force that the paintings thereon rattled, one coming off of its hook and falling with a thud and crunch of breaking glass. The electric rodent's shape seethed and writhed as Varnello drew nearer, both spoons up and glowing a bright blue, as were the Alakazam's now-open eyes.

The Ditto slid to the floor as it took on the dark-type characteristics of an Umbreon, escaping the psychic energy that had previously held it at bay. The black Pokemon leapt up to retaliate, an aura of dark energy clouding the air around it. Varnello wasn't prepared and the Umbreon smashed into him, sending one of his spoons spinning out of his hand to thump onto the bed in front of Tobias, who was now cowering behind the piece of furniture, only his eyes visible over its edge as he watched the scene unfold.

Varnello had more than just psychic moves up his sleeve, however, or so it would appear. His now-spoonless hand smacked the Umbreon away from him, cutting a blazing swath through the air. Ditto-Umbreon howled in equal parts rage and pain as the fire punch scorched his fur. He flailed about in the air but landed nimbly, springing up almost immediately towards Varnello's other hand, knowing that he would have a much greater chance of success if he could disarm the powerful psychic-type.

Varnello was ready, however. Pulses of electricity radiated from the spoon-wielding hand, blackening wallpaper and singing Umbreon fur. Umbreon was caught in the pulsing energy of the shock wave attack, and Varnello's wrathful attack only increased in intensity as more and more bolts of electricity flew through the air, lighting up the psychic-type's face with a flickering, unearthly radiance that only accented the crazed expression that graced his mustachioed face. Umreon screamed in pain and tried launching pursuit after pursuit at Varnello, only to have them torn from the air by continual bolts of electrical energy. Neither Pokemon seemed willing to give in, having both lost their trainers in a matter of minutes.

At last, however, Ditto could no longer hold his shape and was forced to revert to his amorphous jelly form. Varnello, though clearly so fatigued that he could barely hold his remaining spoon up, pressed his advantage immediately, reverting to the most powerful psychic attacks that he could muster. Ditto waved its pseudopods futilely as its plasma-filled body seemed to boil from the power exerted by Varnello's psychic attacks. The Pokemon was shredded, torn apart from within by the warring forces that centered on its small form, leaving Varnello to slump wearily in place as, at last, the Pokemon was dispatched of.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence, Varnello wearily standing in place, head down, spoon-hand trembling. Tobias continued to cower for a second before a powerful urge to be gone from the room seized him. He had just witnessed another three, perhaps four deaths. If he stayed here, he was going to have to face that, face the police that would no doubt come running to investigate the commotion immediately, who would find him here, alone in a room with a dead boy with a gun, a dead trainer who had been shot, a nearly-dead, if not completely so, Dodrio, the pureed remains of a Ditto, and one mad-with-grief Alakazam.

The significance of that last statement had only just sunk into his brain when Varnello suddenly jerked, as though remembering something that he had forgotten. He rounded on Tobias in a towering rage, his pupils disappearing beneath the flat blue glow of the psychic energy pulsing through his skull as he leveled his spoon at the boy who had caused his late guide to come to this godforsaken continent, who had caused her to leave the relative safety of the hotel room to go running about the city and bringing Team Rocket down upon them.

Knowing that he had nowhere to run, Tobias merely closed his eyes and waited for the end as he felt a burning sensation sweep over his body…


	31. Dead Man Walking

**Author's Notes: **Well, what do you know? You go on vacation for a month and half and suddenly it's been five whole months! I'm very sorry about not updating; I had a lot of difficulty writing the two versions of chapter thirty-one. In the end, I realized that I just really hated the "official" chapter thirty-one, namely because it seemed very pointless and really just filler until stuff actually began to happen. Nothing important was really going to be going on for the next two chapters of the main storyline either. So what I realized was that what I would end up with would be a trio of twenty-page chapters in which nothing of any consequence happened. Which would be stupid and difficult to write.

With that in mind, I decided to finally put to rest the initial storyline and embrace the alternate one fully; while it is going to make writing some later parts of the story more difficult because things are going to be changed, ultimately I think I'll have more fun just going with it instead of trying to grind out the next two official chapters, which could take five more months. Hopefully, this way I will be able to update more frequently and enjoy what I'm doing more. If you really want to know what happened for the other two chapters of filler, send me an e-mail and I'll give you a synopsis; it's not that nothing interesting happened, just that nothing of any great importance.

Review responses are at the bottom of this chapter as there are a lot of them and because you are (I hope) eager to read the chapter that's been several months coming. I would also like to apologize in advance for how confusing this chapter is; it's very disjointed and will probably not make a lot of sense if you've forgotten what happened earlier.

**Chapter Thirty-One: Dead Man Walking**

Tobias gradually became aware that nothing made sense. The world seemed to have lost its color, and none of the shadows added up to anything. Overlaying his fractured vision of the world was a tangle of sounds, and they, too, were gibberish, nothing more than a jumble of noises piled on top of one another.

There was no way to be sure how long he remained there, or for how long he had been there before he became aware of it. Time seemed moot, and this uncertainty caused nothing but a vague, easily dismissed feeling of unease. In fact, strange though his current situation was, Tobias didn't feel terribly bothered by it. It was a rather peaceful state, simply staring at the confusing world around him.

A memory nagged at him, insistently reminding him of something to do with an alakazam, but Tobias pushed it away irritably. While he couldn't exactly remember very much, he wasn't inclined to meditate on the fact at the moment. It was much easier to forget…

After what might have been an eternity or only a few seconds, something subtly shifted. The world reappeared as Tobias was accustomed to it, like the real image suddenly rising from out of the visual static of a magic eye picture. Suddenly, the room—and Tobias now recognized that that was what it was—seemed very bright, a harsh white light burning away the peaceful haze that had surrounded his brain to reveal the thought that had been hiding behind it: _Wow, this really _hurts!

In an instant, the pain flooded back into Tobias's considerably confused mind. If he had thought that his head hurt earlier, then he had obviously been delusional. At least before he'd been able to think without feeling as though his skull might crack open. His entire brain felt as though it had been dissected with a white-hot scalpel and stuck back together haphazardly. His thoughts were likewise sliced up and scattered throughout his consciousness, and Tobias didn't really have the energy to try to tape them back together into some rational sequence, if that was even possible. He was being inundated by pain signals from every cell in his body, a uniform, stinging ache as though he'd been burned alive from both inside and out at once. His heart seemed to be pumping acid through his veins, and with each weary beat it caused another wave of agony.

Fortunately, Tobias didn't have to put up with this for very long. The brilliant white light, having consumed the last of the shadow shrouding his mind, turned in upon itself. Tobias's vision blackened at the edges and finally collapsed into complete darkness.

* * *

When Tobias awoke again he felt marginally better. At least now his headache could be described merely as "acutely painful" rather than "absolutely debilitating." Likewise, the dull ache radiating from every corner of his body was relatively bearable. Conscious thought was once again possible.

As he had observed before, Tobias was in a fairly small, sterile-looking room. The walls and tiled floor were a dazzling white, as though daring some stray speck of dirt to alight upon them. A small TV was mounted on the wall nearby, and the faint hum and bleep of machinery was present in the background.

Tobias really wished he would stop waking up in hospitals without the faintest idea of how he'd gotten there.

"Blissey! Bliss blisss blissey!" Tobias started with fright at the unexpected noise and immediately regretted it, his muscles now positively screaming with discomfort and his vision blurring alarmingly. An absurdly rounded head topped by a nurse's cap peered over the edge of his bed, apparently checking to make sure that he was, in fact, awake.

Tobias responded with an involuntary groan, which turned into a painful, choking cough. The blissey attendant hurriedly pressed a small button mounted on the side of Tobias's bed to summon a human nurse and watched her patient anxiously.

After the brief coughing fit subsided, Tobias, feeling even worse, took a moment to register that there was something hot dribbling out of his nose. He very slowly raised his arm, which he was displeased to note was a raw, angry red, and brushed the mystery liquid away. Fighting against the pain associated with moving, he focused on his fingers, now coated with a thin layer of dark red. _My nose is bleeding._

A flustered nurse dashed into the room and was probably considerably disturbed to find her patient contemplating the blood on his fingers in an oddly detached, fascinated way. "Oh, no, your nose is bleeding again?" she gasped. Tobias winced at the loud noise, his muscles locking up.

"We thought we had it stopped for good a couple of hours ago," the nurse continued, mostly to herself, as she rummaged through the equipment stored in a large cabinet over the counter running along one wall of the room.

His vision going hazy again, Tobias felt the blood determinedly continuing to drain from his nostrils. _My nose is _really _bleeding, _his brain supplied before falling silent once again, and Tobias was out cold by the time the nurse found whatever it was that she was looking for.

* * *

The nurse was still there when Tobias found himself in the hospital bed once more. It took him a moment to register that it was a different nurse this time, with short brown curls and a grave expression. She noticed almost immediately that her patient was awake again and descended upon him with a flurry of instructions before he had fully begun to realize awareness.

"Now just lie back, stay calm," she ordered. "You're at a very delicate stage now, we don't want you making your condition worse."

Tobias didn't want to make his condition worse, either. He was under the impression that it was pretty bad as it was. He squinted vaguely up at the nurse and tried to avoid moving more than absolutely necessary. For her part, the nurse bustled around his bed, talking nonstop as she adjusted the bags of fluid currently running into his arm. Funny, he hadn't even noticed that he'd had an IV the last couple of times he'd woken up.

"We've been trying all day to get you to stop bleeding," she said conversationally as she noted something down out of the field of his vision. Tobias was reluctant to turn his head to track her movements throughout the room and didn't feel terribly curious about anything at the moment anyway. "It was really nasty when they brought you in here. All of the characteristics of a psychic assault, but much worse… I don't think I've ever seen a case as bad as yours."

Tobias didn't feel anything in response to that statement. He was, however reluctantly, alive at the moment, so he wasn't all that interested in how badly he had been injured. Not that he was all that interested in much of anything.

"Blood everywhere," the nurse continued, checking the readouts on a couple of the sensors currently hooked up to him. "Profuse bleeding from the nose and ears. Clearly, extensive damage to internal mucous membranes."

He was very tired. The nurse's voice droned on in the background, perhaps half with the intention of inducing sleep. As the woman continued to bustle around in the background, Tobias's eyes shut slowly, and he didn't try to stop them.

"It was really scary, actually," the nurse continued, her voice growing distant. "You weren't offering any sort of resistance, but you were really stiff, and your eyes were open! You had this sort of wild expression on, and for the first few hours you just stared straight ahead as though you couldn't feel anything…"

Had he cared to think about it, Tobias might have remembered that the last thing that he remembered was closing his eyes back in the hotel room.

* * *

It was day again when Tobias awoke once more, the curtains across the hospital room window thrown open. To his surprise, the bright light didn't seem to cause him any particular agony. In fact, he didn't feel much pain at all, although he was a bit lightheaded.

This time he wasn't as startled when a chansey attendant cheerfully responded to his wakefulness and called a nurse. As she came in, Tobias noted that it was the same one that he had met last night. As he still had no concept of time, he'd guess that it was last night, anyway.

"Feeling better?" she asked, and Tobias was surprised to find that he did, actually.

"Yeah," he rasped, and was again surprised at the hoarseness of his voice and at how parched he suddenly realized that he was.

"Thirsty?" the nurse asked sympathetically. Tobias nodded, and gratefully accepted a glass of water from the chansey attendant that appeared moments later, almost as if it had been instructed to get him something to drink even before the nurse sat down, which, now that he thought about it, was probably the case.

"It's good to see that you're recovering," the nurse continued, politely ignoring the way that Tobias noisily gulped down his water. The Chansey cheerfully accepted the empty glass and trundled off again, presumably to refill it somewhere. "Really, it's quite amazing that you're doing as well as you are. In fact, you were lucky even to survive an attack of that magnitude…" she trailed off, shaking her head.

Tobias frowned. He didn't feel terribly lucky at the moment. Not that he'd prefer to be dead, of course, though he'd certainly wished that he was earlier on; lucky just didn't seem like a good adjective to describe him.

"I apologize for the extreme pain," the nurse added, and Tobias grimaced as she mentioned it. He tried to put thoughts of his early recovery period out of his mind as the nurse continued, "We weren't able to give you any painkiller, you see. The amount that it would have taken to adequately dull the pain would have been dangerous to your system in the state that you were in; psychic attacks damage mainly the nervous system, and interfering with neural function when you were still in critical condition was too dangerous."

There was a moment of silence as Tobias decided that he would have much rather that they had risked it and given him something, but suddenly he realized that the nurse was waiting for him to say something. "Umm, that's all right," he said half-heartedly. She smiled back at him.

"You must be confused. Do you remember what happened before you were brought here?"

Chris leering back at him, a shadowy figure on the threshold, a single silent shot… "No," Tobias lied flatly.

Whether because she realized that he wasn't ready to deal with the murders that he had witnessed or because she hadn't been talking about them in the first place, the nurse went on to explain only what he hadn't been fully conscious for. "Apparently, the Alakazam that attacked you was not only enraged, but considerably weakened. It had lost one of its spoons and was apparently too blinded by anger to think of conjuring another one, which was probably your saving grace. It had access to only a fraction of its psychic power and was fatigued as well, but that was still more than enough for you. Other hotel residents had heard the…commotion…and the police arrived quickly, thankfully. They managed to subdue the Alakazam and sent you over to us as fast as they could. You're at the Olivine General Hospital."

Tobias listened quietly as she told him this, trying to keep in complete control of both his face and his thoughts. He couldn't just let his mind wander, for fear that it would end up stumbling into the dark events of that night so many days ago in the hotel. If it had been that many days. "How long have I been here?" he asked the nurse, who pretended as though she couldn't see through his carefully maintained façade.

"This is your fifth day here," she said gently. "I'm afraid that you'll need to stay here for at least another week. A psychic attack of the power of the one that you endured takes a lot out of a person, and the recovery period is generally a long one. Fortunately, in your case, brain damage was surprisingly minor…"

Tobias felt as though he had been hit by a mach punch as the nurse finished her carefully calm answer. "Brain damage?" he squeaked involuntarily, unable to hide his fear.

"Yes," the nurse replied. "But as I said, it's actually amazingly minimal. I'm afraid we'll have to run some tests to determine if there will be any lasting problems, but you don't need to worry about that right now."

He might not have had to worry right then, but Tobias didn't feel like procrastinating. Nervously, he twisted the paper bracelet that had been fastened onto his wrist around and around his arm. Thomas Goldspur, it read, along with some other information that Tobias didn't care about. Thomas Goldspur. How long had it been since he'd been called by his real name? Or was it even his real name now? Tobias Talltree had been just a little farm boy venturing out into a world far too large for him, not a fearful, resentful teenager being told that he had narrowly avoided death yet again.

The chansey returned with more water, and Tobias sipped it slowly, both because he no longer felt very thirsty and because he was preoccupied with his thoughts. The nurse waited a moment to see if he had anything else to say. "Well, I suppose that's that, for now," she said at last. "If you need anything from me or one of the chansey, just press the call button. Oh, and here's the remote for your TV. Try to get some sleep now, though. The more you sleep, the faster you'll recover and be out of here. And surely you're anxious to get back to your journey?"

Tobias was jerked out of his morbid reflection by this statement. Ignoring the proffered remote, he looked anxiously into the nurse's face. "Wait, what about my pokémon? Are they all right? Did you get them all?"

"Yes, yes, they're fine," the nurse reassured him. "They're staying at the pokémon center for now. If you want, you can see them later." Tobias's stomach unknotted somewhat, but now he began to think of what his pokémon must be feeling. Everything would just bounce off Jinx as usual, of course. Chevron would be sympathetic and relieved to see that his trainer was all right. Igneous… would he even be happy to see that Tobias was alive? And Accemenla. What would she say?

The nurse, seeing that her patient had withdrawn into his mind, sighed and set the remote down on the small table next to his bed. He was just a kid, she thought sadly. He'd seen things he wasn't meant to, experienced things that no one should. It was something you saw far too often in her profession. She left the room quietly, the eternally pleasant chansey bouncing along at her heels.

* * *

Tobias drifted in and out of consciousness for the next three days. He ate reluctantly and spent almost all of his waking time watching television. Even this was a dangerous activity, however. Every now and then there would be a news blurb about the tragedy in Olivine and the continuing investigations that had gripped the city, and he would be forced to flip the channel quickly. The flickering screen was his only hope of salvation; if he allowed the thoughts and worries of others far away to wash across him he could ignore his own. He no longer inquired after his pokémon, a fact that his nurse found very distressing, though she did not yet feel ready to force a meeting with them upon him.

Tension filled the news broadcasts. Strange tales were flowing in from all across the globe, from the wild ravings of a self-proclaimed psychic who had begun spinning wild tales about the end of the world to the whispered rumors that Latios had been discovered dead in southern Hoenn, being picked over by a large flock of skarmory. The Professors remained secreted far away, not giving any comment on the bizarre situation.

On the fourth day, however, Tobias was forced to come out of his half-alive trance, the comfortable position that he had acquired in which no thought or emotion was required, merely the act of existence and reluctant healing. A quick thrill of fear was all that was needed to rouse him from this waking slumber, one provided quite well by the uniformed Olivine police officer that walked into his room that afternoon.

At the sight of tall, grim-faced man, Tobias was suddenly forced to jerk his attention away from the television screen, which was currently babbling about the nuances of constructing birdfeeders that would attract pidgey and spearow but keep away nuisances such as sentret. In the beginning he was assailed only by a sort of blind panic, a shocked reaction to the appearance of a police officer without any real notion of what could be wrong, but all too soon it dawned upon him.

He had been found in a hotel room rented to another girl, bending beneath the force of an awesome psychic attack and surrounded by carnage. Not only was the girl who had paid for the room dead of a bullet wound, but a mysterious fellow lay nearby, equally lively thanks to a gruesome pokémon attack. The creature responsible was dead or severely injured, probably lying nearby, chest feathers stained by its own blood, one of its heads discolored with the blood of the man. A ditto melted into an amorphous mass of goo and one crazed alakazam rounded the picture off nicely. Was it really any surprise that the Olivine police had taken an interest in the boy who was not only the sole survivor of the Lighthouse Challenge but the last man standing after a bizarre series of murders shortly thereafter?

"Thomas Goldspur?" the officer asked gruffly, ignoring the anxious hovering of the nurse that had followed him into the room. He towered over Tobias's hospital bed, seeming all the more imposing when compared to the thin, fearful, and slightly yellowish boy staring up at him. The three pokéballs at his hip next to his gun gleamed slightly in the light streaming in from the window that a chansey had opened against Tobias's wishes that morning.

Tobias made an incoherent squeaking noise that might have been an affirmation, and the officer took a seat beside his bed. He launched into his questioning without preamble, grilling the Waytaran about the events during the Lighthouse Challenge and what came after. The nurse seemed reluctant to leave for fear that something dreadful would happen if she was not there to look after her patient, and she fluttered about in the background, banging through cabinets and generally trying to find something to busy herself with.

At first, Tobias found the officer's questions extremely hard to answer. This was especially true of those regarding the fifth floor of the lighthouse. Tobias shut his eyes, obligingly trying to remember details for the officer, but on the back of his eyelids he saw blood pooling out from beneath a shattered ceiling light, Cass howling as Nidoqueen emotionlessly crushed her hands. His eyes flying open again, Tobias had to start over several times before he could get the story out.

For all that he appeared gruff and uncaring, the officer was patient with Tobias, allowing him time to collect himself and dignifiedly ignoring the occasional sniffle or tear. Having been on duty for years in a big city like Olivine, rife with gangs like Team Rocket and renegade bands of feral, human-hating pokémon, he had seen far more than his share of gruesome and tragic events and understood that if they were difficult enough for a grown man such as himself to handle, then for a child like Tobias they would be even more devastating.

As Tobias's tale continued, the words seemed to come more easily and he was able to speak more coherently. He felt almost eager to be telling someone about what had happened to him, oddly comforted by speaking aloud the dark images that had been coiling through his thoughts for the last several days, for all that he had almost convinced himself that they didn't exist. After a moment's hesitation, he even talked about Jess's allegations, how she had claimed that Waytaran agents worked in all levels of Johtoan government, collecting information and guiding the region away from discovering their precious secret. The police officer kept his face a stony mask, so Tobias had no idea what he thought of her accusations, but he continued to speak anyway. He had no idea of how long he talked; it took him a while, but he realized that the nurse had fallen silent with her make-work, listening intently and giving up all pretense of being there for no real reason. At last, the entire story was out, and Tobias sighed inwardly.

The police officer regarded him for a few more moments in silence, then said, "Thank you for your cooperation. Rest assured that the Olivine police are doing everything in their power to catch the people responsible for the terrible things that occurred during the Lighthouse Challenge and slightly afterwards. You've provided us with some very valuable information." He stood up and moved to leave the room, Tobias staring after him and feeling drained. The officer's words did nothing to comfort him; they were standard procedure, akin to the catchphrases spouted by the actors on the cop shows that he'd occasionally watched during his time in Johto. The nurse hurried out after him. She shot a quick glance at Tobias before leaving, and he was surprised to see genuine sorrow on her face—her eyes glistened oddly.

For a while afterwards he left the TV off, gazing out of his window at the unimpressive view he had of the hospital wing across from the one he was in, a hundred blank and empty windows staring across the gap at him. He could see nothing beyond their reflective glass, and briefly he wondered how many patients over there were looking out their windows, too, he and they staring across at one another but completely unaware of each other's presence.

When his dinner came, he had to smile sadly at the extra dish of gelatin that had made its way onto his tray by some inexplicable mix-up. He ate it and most of the rest of the meal, too, for the first time since he had been at the hospital. It wasn't that he felt better, he thought, but perhaps just resigned to the fact that he would probably be around for the next sunrise whether he starved himself or not.

* * *

"It's time for your brain scan," the nurse informed him in a dangerously cheerful voice the next morning, and Tobias stiffened as a kadabra followed her into the room, its cunning eyes fixed on him as it twirled its spoon in the long, delicate fingers of its left hand.

"Now, this won't take very long," the nurse explained. "All that will happen is Yinaler here will stimulate different parts of your brain and check to see whether or not you respond correctly. He's been doing this for years, and he's very quick about it. It will all be over before you know it."

Tobias didn't feel very comforted. His heart raced as the humanoid pokémon hopped up and into the chair that the officer had been using yesterday, putting itself at about Tobias's eye level. The frightened boy saw his terrified face reflected in the highly polished back of the psychic-type's spoon, oddly distorted by its curvature.

"Relax," the nurse urged. "Close your eyes. Nothing bad is going to happen."

Tobias closed his eyes, but he remained unable to relax. He was wound tight, but for several seconds he didn't feel anything. Uncertainty tainted his terror, and he felt tempted to open his eyes just to see if the kadabra was actually doing anything. Almost as though it had heard this thought—and of course, he realized a moment later, it probably had—he felt a slight tingling spread across him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and his scalp was alive with the strange sensation. It wasn't painful or acutely unpleasant, but it was eerie. Tobias resisted the urge to scratch his head with difficulty.

The itching sensation intensified, until at least it reached a definite burning. Unable to restrain himself, Tobias at last gave in and jerked away from Yinaler, his hands going to his head reflexively. The discomfort stopped instantly, and Tobias opened his eyes.

"Dabra," the kadabra grunted, lowering his spoon. He turned to the nurse, and there passed several minutes of silence, during which Tobias could only assume that the psychic-type was reporting its findings to his nurse. The woman frowned as she listened, and her expression grew grimmer as the private conversation progressed. Tobias's anxiety increased, and by the time the nurse finally spoke up, he was beginning to feel frantic.

"Well, Yinaler says that you seem to have severe psychic allergies," she announced at last, sounding troubled. "Your mind is unusually closed to psychic suggestion as well. He feels that if he tries to pry his way in, he will cause damage himself, as you seem to respond poorly both physically and mentally to psychic energy. I'm afraid we're just going to have to try something else."

While somewhat disturbed by the nurse's announcement, Tobias felt mostly relief as Yinaler hopped down from the chair and left the room, his claws clicking on the tiles. The nurse left as well, vowing to return later with an alternative testing method.

That afternoon she fulfilled her promise, reappearing with a clipboard and a determined expression. They would have to use a battery of tests, she announced, that would reveal large-scale damage to his mental functions if not provide the detailed assessment that a complete psychic scan would. They began with a simple eye test to determine if his vision had been adversely affected, moved on to reflexes and finally to balance and coordination. After having determined that he could stand up and walk around without great difficulty, the nurse called the testing session off for the day, assuring him that they would continue with further assessments the next day. In the meantime, however, she told him that she would send a chansey in to give him some of his clothes back, so at least he would be able to discard his hospital robe. It was time for him to get up and out of the hospital bed, she announced, and get a bit of exercise. He would be allowed to wander around the hospital building and grounds, provided he didn't get in the way of staff or other patients.

Tobias accepted his clothes gratefully when the chansey brought them, but he felt strangely nervous to leave his room. While it was far from interesting, the stark white walls of his current abode were able to hold back the outside world, leaving him in relative peace. Even the view from his window was so terrible that he'd been unable to get a good glimpse of the people outside. Strangely enough, he thought he hardly recalled the meaning of the term "hustle and bustle."

As it turned out, he needn't have worried about facing the world at large. He barely made it all the way down the long hallway that his room opened onto before he was forced to turn back, shocked at how weak he had become by a mere week or so of invalidity. Upon returning to his bed, he lay there fuming for quite some time, resentful of how restrictive his present condition really was.

He had sunk back into some measure of apathy when a blissey appeared with his dinner. Surprisingly, his nurse also arrived, carrying a weird-looking little plant. "Someone's sent you a present," the nurse told Tobias, holding the bizarre sprout out to him. He perked up in spite of himself, ignoring his dinner tray and taking the small pot from the nurse. His mind whirled as he wondered who might have sent him something. The first person that came to mind was Professor Elm. Could he really have sent Tobias something all the way from Hoenn, despite the fact that he was currently embroiled in some top-secret crises at the Space Center?

"Here's the card," the nurse said, handing him a small white envelope. She and the blissey left as Tobias eagerly tore the envelope open. He hadn't been the recipient of many presents during his time in Johto, most of his family and friends being unaware of his continued existence. Even actual mail was a rare thing, computerized messages being so much cheaper, simpler, and more reliable. Getting a card of any sort was a rare thing indeed.

What was inside the envelope was actually not a card but a letter, a typed slip of paper. Tobias unfolded it and read it excitedly.

_Dear Thomas,_

_Heard you got yourself into a bit of trouble in Olivine. I hope that you're all right. I thought I'd send you something to brighten up your room and to wish you a speedy recovery. The faster the better, actually: hospitals are such a bother to break into._

Tobias reread the line, confused. When it was no different the second time he went through it, he quickly began on the next paragraph, a slight feeling of apprehension assaulting him.

_Not that I'd want to, anyway. No, I'd prefer that you be perfectly capable of defending yourself when I finally catch up to you. In fact, it's heartening that you're able to read this letter at all. It would have been a shame if that alakazam had turned your mind to sludge; disposing of a babbling idiot is really not that satisfying, I must admit._

Tobias's elation froze and sank to the pit of his stomach.

_So enjoy your little stay at the hospital. As long as you're there, rest assured that you're safe. But once you leave, dear boy, your days are numbered. I don't intend to kill you right away, now. I enjoy a good chase, and I find it amusing to watch some of the futile attempts that my enemies make at evading my grasp. None have succeeded yet, of course. Especially not those with such crimes to their name as you._

Crimes? Tobias's heart quickened. The Waytaran government! It had to be! Another one of their agents had surely heard of Jenny's death and had decided to avenge her.

_Did you honestly think that you could walk out of the Lighthouse Challenge just as easily as you did and get away with it? Did you think that you could be involved in the death of one of my top agents and not face the consequences?_

For a moment, Tobias felt oddly relieved. Well, it wasn't anyone from Waytar, then.

_What Team Rocket marks, dies. And you were marked the instant you entered yourself in the Challenge. Oh, you may die later as opposed to sooner, but be sure that there is no escape in the end. You, my friend, are a dead man walking. You might as well go and pick a nice coffin out before the decision is unfortunately left up to someone else._

Tobias honestly didn't know which was worse, Team Rocket or the Waytarans. _Why can't they just leave me alone? _he cried mentally.

_Oh, and in case you're wondering, no, the plant that came with this isn't poisonous or anything. It's just a little miracleberry sapling. Because after all, it's going to take all the miracles that little tree can produce and a whole lot more for you to ever escape from me. Enjoy life while you can. You might even have a couple of years before you, depending on how lenient I'm feeling. But I'll always be there, hovering just outside of your vision. I'm just waiting for the right time, and only I know when that is. So rest up, Tobias. You'll need your strength._

Tobias dropped the note, all thoughts of a pleasant dinner and some more TV banished. His eyes darted nervously around the room, as though searching for a black-clad figure lurking in a shadow, watching him with a sardonic grin. The piece of paper fluttered down into his lap, the last lines staring up at him mockingly.

_Get well soon!_

_Sincerely,_

_Derek, Olivine Branch Head Rocket _

* * *

As always, I'd like to thank everybody who reviewed, especially those couple of people who have been bugging me about updating this in recent times. It's nice to know that people appreciate your work enough to care about seeing more of it.

Apologies to the people who didn't like the alternate chapter very much; I understand that it's very dark and unpleasant, not an enjoyable read. I will say, however, that we're passing out of the most dark and depressing part of the 'fic. So think happy thoughts, there will no longer be multiple murders in one chapter or anything quite as gruesome as that from now on.

Thanks to the people who commented on my use of the present attack. I really liked writing that battle, for the sheer randomness of it all (and am disappointed by not being able to write the one for this chapter, which involved wailord). And as people have pointed out, things never really do seem to let up for Tobias. But, really, if there's bad times, there have to be good times to balance them out, right?

Anyway, I apologize again for the extreme wait and hope to see you again in considerably less time with the thirty-second chapter.


	32. Reunions

**Author's Notes: **Well, from now on I'll be sending all responses to signed reviews through the mail and won't be able to address people who leave unsigned reviews (it being against the rules and all) but I'll say here that I always appreciate all the reviews I get, even if I'm not even able to tell you about it.

This turned out to be a much longer chapter than I had expected. It's a transitional one, as we're moving into the last stage of the plot. As always, I hope that you enjoy it.

**Chapter Thirty-Two: Reunions**

It was odd how quickly Tobias's outlook could change with just the application of a threat upon his life. Whereas only hours before, his thoughts had been just self-centered enough to cast him as a world-weary young boy, resigned to his dubious lease on life where by all accounts he should be dead, he was now forced to drop all selfish pretenses of martyrdom and cling obsessively to his existence like any other human being. No longer was he so reassured of his continued existence that he was willing to take it for granted and spend it moping about how unworthy he was of it; he instead greedily watched each second tick off, miraculously rediscovering his self-esteem in a thrill of terrified possessiveness. His nightmares were no longer fraught with visions of dark days past but of dark days in the future, the gun not turned on others but on himself. In essence, the threat of death gave him immediate reason to live again.

The days after the arrival of the threatening note were electric with tension. Naturally, the content of the message attracted the attention of the police, throwing Tobias back into the epicenter of the ongoing investigation of the Lighthouse Challenge incident. He was reassured by the nurse that the police would provide him protection while he was in the city, at least as far as they were able. He had unwittingly become a very prominent figure in the circle of law enforcement, possibly providing the opportunity to catch one of the most dangerous figures in the city, the leader of its most powerful organized crime association, but at the same time just some other kid in way over his head. Meanwhile, the sender of the note himself watched from a distance, enjoying the sight of the police getting tangled up in speculation and rumor-mongering, chasing shadows while the hunted man himself lazed easily in the background, waiting for the most opportune moment to strike.

Meanwhile, Tobias's condition was slowly improving. Four days after the note had arrived, his nurse finally admitted that she could find nothing obviously wrong with his mental state and that he would be discharged the next day. Restless, feeling helpless while lying around in a hospital bed, Tobias had been roaming the hospital, going a bit farther away from his room each day, both excited and terrified to be back on his feet once more. He spent the night before he was discharged agonizing over what he should do upon his release. Pick up his pokémon was an obvious first, but after that what was there to do? He could stay in Olivine and be surrounded by law enforcement officials while on the other hand within the grasp of a man who wanted him dead, or he could leave and seek out a place where the Rockets' grip was not quite as strong but where he would not be assured protection.

He hadn't really decided anything by the time he found himself down on the bottom floor of the hospital, checking out. The woman behind the counter smiled at him and handed over his pack and all of its contents, his coat, his sleeping bag, and the bill. Tobias winced when he saw it, before remembering that the organizers of the Lighthouse Challenge were paying for damages, or something along those lines; the nurse had explained it to him early on in his stay at the hospital when he didn't really care.

Stepping outside the hospital was a daunting task, much though Tobias was loath to admit it; the air outside was chill and a ragged breeze whipped across the small open area between the hospital and the street. It was a far cry from the carefully climate-controlled interior of the building and only heightened Tobias's sense of insecurity. He knew that he was leaving safety as he left the hospital, and the weather outside was only too happy to remind him of it.

Stalling, Tobias took a seat on one of the concrete benches just outside the lobby doors and went through his pack, making sure that he had everything that he needed. His trainer's belt had been stuffed inside, and he took it out and strapped it on, surprised at how light it was without a pokédex, chimes, or pokéballs attached to it. He grimaced as he dug around in the bottom of his pack, recalling that he didn't have any food, and his funds were relatively low. At last he located his pokénav and brought up a map of Olivine. It was odd how rigorously segregated the city was. The hospital here was far away from the trainer sector, this area of the city being populated mainly by the respectable businessmen and women who actually kept the city running, as opposed to the vibrant crowd of children and young adults that thronged the streets near the gym and the pokémon center and the mart. This place had a sort of air of dignity and patient tolerance of the city's more rowdy crowd, those who had not yet learned to settle down and go about making a serious living with a real job.

Tobias sighed as he saw how far away the pokémon center was; he hoped that he had the stamina to make it all the way there without resting all that often. It would take him a long time to get back to his former strength, the nurse had cautioned him, and he shouldn't try anything too strenuous just yet. Clipping the pokégear to his belt and fishing out his pokédex to clip alongside it, Tobias reluctantly heaved himself off the bench and slung his pack over his shoulder.

He was soon thoroughly lost amongst the tall, stately buildings that lined the street and in the winding alleyways that led between them. Like most cities in Johto, Olivine was one that, at least in the less trainer-populated part, seemed to live in the past, its buildings from some long-ago era when it was popular to decorate moldings with pictures of eevee and its evolutions. Tobias was on tenterhooks the entire time, doing his best to refrain from glancing over his shoulder every ten seconds to see if someone was following. In truth, he was almost more anxious to see whom it was that the police had sent to follow him. They had said that an officer would be tailing him, making sure that he didn't come to any harm, but the person was clearly too professional to allow him- or herself to be seen by his or her client, doing a very good job of being invisible. Not sure if he was reassured or more creeped out than before by this realization, Tobias shivered slightly and continued trudging down yet another cobbled street. His footsteps echoed oddly, adding to his nervousness; here in the business sector most respectable people were ensconced in their offices, not out wandering. Tobias was made acutely aware of the fact that his pokémon were not with him when he saw a raggedy fearow peering down at him from a massive nest constructed on a fire escape.

The bird watched him coolly, impassively, not showing any sign of challenge but still unsettling Tobias. If it did decide to attack, he knew that he would simply be no match for it. And what if it was a sentry from Team Rocket, watching his progress and ensuring that he never passed beyond the eye of their head? Try as he might, Tobias couldn't shake his uneasiness, and his trip through the city was far from a pleasant one.

Half an hour, several wrong turns, and a firm conviction to remember that north was _that _way, not _that _way later, Tobias was finally closing in on his destination. Tired and drained from his constant feeling of alertness, he was relieved to hear the familiar sounds of a pokémon battle up ahead. As he approached the site of the conflict, he could soon make out that it was a pair of young boys, obviously recently started on their journey, embroiled in a heated conflict of determined rivalry. One was using a nidorino, the other, an ariados. The two poison-types seemed quite equally matched, and Tobias observed the battle with interest as he went past, resisting the urge to stop awhile and watch in earnest.

When he caught himself actually reminiscing about his early days as a trainer as though they were a golden age long past, Tobias shook himself slightly and quickened his pace. The streets steadily became more crowded, and pokémon appeared along with the humans, the atmosphere of the city becoming more lighthearted and welcoming as he drew closer to the center of the pokémon district. Soon the pokémon center was just up ahead, a cheerful neon beacon that stood out in sharp contrast to the more reserved classical architecture that ruled in other sections of the city. With the promise of warmth and some comfortable chairs, not to mention his pokémon, just up ahead, Tobias walked still faster.

The door to the center slid back to admit him with a cheery ding. Tobias breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped over the threshold, immediately feeling more secure than he had on the streets outside. The place wasn't very busy by the standard of traffic during the League season, but there were quite a few trainers about, most lounging in the comfortable chairs near the front windows, frowning at the cold world outside and wondering how long they could put off leaving.

The nurse smiled at Tobias as he approached, and he returned the grin eagerly. "How may I help you?" she asked as he drew up to the desk.

"Yeah, uh, my pokémon are being boarded here and I'm here to pick them up," he explained, automatically unclipping his pokédex and sliding it across the counter. The nurse picked it up without even looking at it, sliding it into a slot on the dexwork hub that rested behind the counter, tapping a few keys on the computer next to it to check the center's records against his trainer number.

"Yes, here they are," the nurse said, peering at her computer screen. "I'll take you back and you can find them yourself, but make sure you bring them up the desk here to have their pokéballs checked out." Tobias's pokédex popped out of the machine and she handed it back to him before walking out from behind the desk. She led him back and around past the doors to the emergency room, headed for the rear of the center. Tobias was curious; he'd never seen this part of a pokémon center before. In fact, most of the smaller centers probably didn't have a pokémon residence area. The nurse pushed open a door next to which there was a plaque that read, "Owners and authorized staff only beyond this point" and held it for Tobias.

If he'd thought that walking into the warm, welcoming pokémon center had been a bit of a shock, he was far from prepared for the wave of noise and riot of colors that assaulted him on the other side of the door. "Good luck finding them," the nurse said behind him, having to raise her voice a bit to be heard over the din. "We're pretty full up." She smiled and shut the door, leaving Tobias alone with all the pokémon currently being cared for by the center.

At first glance, the place seemed to be complete chaos. Squealing baby pokémon ran everywhere, darting around the legs of the more mature members of the population as they pursued games of what appeared to be tag. Pokémon of all description hung from the lattice that had been nailed to the walls, swarming up and down seemingly at random. In the rafters above all manner of bird pokémon roosted, and a few harassed-looking zubat and golbat hung upside-down beneath, long since having given up any hopes of getting a decent day's sleep amidst all the ruckus. A few pokémon were sparring, testing their strength against one another. As Tobias continued to watch, however, he realized that there was order here, though not very obvious to human eyes.

A kangaskhan mother protectively pulled her baby back out of the way of a romping group of young growlithe, growling menacingly and sending the puppies scurrying away hurriedly. A machoke hastily blocked the progress of a pichu as it came dangerously close to wandering into the midst of a fight between two nidorino. The poison-types strained against one another, each trying to force their opponent backwards and out of a ring with boundaries that only they knew. Towards the back of the room, a group of mankey cheerfully groomed one another. Tobias felt terribly out of place, unable to sense the hierarchies and subtle balances of power that existed within the complex tangle of different species temporarily living together. He didn't see any of his pokémon in here, either, but as he could see, this was only the first of several rooms.

Most of the pokémon didn't pay him any mind as he carefully made his way across the room, not wanting to interrupt anything. A few of the children stopped playing and gawked after him as he went past, but an older pokémon would prod them gently, and they would soon start playing again. Tobias realized he was blushing, somehow feeling like he was trespassing in foreign territory. It was extremely rare that you saw this many pokémon of different species together, without any humans there to interfere.

The next room was considerably calmer, and there were significantly fewer young pokémon here. Tobias guessed that the front room was really more of a playroom of sorts, and the adult pokémon came here to get away from all of the little ones. The room was much larger and quieter, and was furnished with numerous armchairs and several tables. Most pokémon here were psychic-types, quietly reading books or engaged in fierce games of chess, but there were pokémon of other types there, too.

While several of the tables were apparently reserved for the chess matches, the rest were taken up by card games in varying degrees of raucousness. A group of kadabra and alakazam made up what was probably the noisiest faction, deeply involved in an intense game of spoons. Everything from go fish to a complicated card game called unown on the tablet was being played, and it was at the poker table that Tobias spotted Accemenla.

Psychic-type poker was a great deal more complex than its mundane counterpart, as all parties had to keep up a constant mental barrier to prevent the nature of their cards from being read by other players while at the same time spend their energy testing the defenses of their opponents. Accemenla was seated between a medicham and a kirlia, shrewdly watching as the lunatone at the other end of the table levitated a couple of chips into the pot. She had apparently not noticed his presence.

"Hey Accemenla!" Tobias called, approaching the table. She looked up from her hand, evidently surprised. All around the room pokémon stopped what they were doing to look at the intruder in their domain, a few readers glaring reproachfully at him for disturbing their pursuits.

_Well, it's about time, _the tarsix sniffed, tossing down her cards down and pushing back her chair. Her claws clicked on the tiled floor as she came around the table, and moments later she was standing in front of him, looking up at him reproachfully.

Tobias had to grin; he could tell that despite her usual haughty attitude, Accemenla really was very glad to see him. "Care for a ride?" he asked, kneeling down. Gratefully, Accemenla bounded onto his back and up to his shoulders as he straightened up. Tobias wavered slightly as he stood; Accemenla was heavier than he remembered.

_Whoah, _the tarsix said, _you're not going to fall over and crush me, are you?_

"No, I'm just a little out of shape, that's all," Tobias said, regaining his balance.

Accemenla's cunning face appeared in his peripheral vision, peering at him from the side. _Where have you been? _she asked, sounding suspicious. _They wouldn't tell us anything. _

"It's a long story," Tobias said. "I'll tell you later. But long story short, I got on the wrong side of one of your psycho friends."

_You probably deserved it, _Accemenla decided, leaning back out of his face again.

Tobias felt a twinge of hurt at this statement, unable to tell if the Tarsix had been joking or not. "So, where's everybody else?" he asked, putting it out of his mind and taking another look around the room as he did so.

_Well, the linoone is always outside, _Accemenla said after a moment of thought, _and the magmar is almost certainly in the pool. _

The pool? Tobias frowned and tried to turn his head so that he could see Accemenla, but she was almost directly behind his head and out of his range of vision. Deciding he'd see what she meant later, he asked, "And Jinx?"

_Can't we just leave him here? _Accemenla asked wearily.

Tobias smiled; though he hadn't realized it, he had almost missed Accemenla's constant sarcasm and nettling comments. She seemed to have gotten over some of her irritation with him during his long absence as well. "Of course not," he said. "After all, who'd you have to fight with if we didn't bring him along?"

_I'm sure I could make do, _Accemenla replied. _If you must know, he's probably outside, too. _

"Right, then, we'll head that way first. Which door?"

_Left, _the tarsix answered, and Tobias headed out of the room through the correct exit, finding himself in a long hallway with several doors branching off in all directions.

"I had no idea this place was so big," Tobias muttered after Accemenla told him to head straight down the hall. "I mean, it's nearly the size of the whole other half of the center! Pretty luxurious for all of you."

_They get a lot of pokémon that board here, _Accemenla explained. _Most of them are kept for the off-season; people don't want to put them in storage for such a long time and sometimes they can't have them at home for whatever reason. It's pretty big, but personally, I'd rather be someplace away from all the weirdos._

"Weirdos?" Tobias chuckled. "Think you're the only sane one there is, huh?"

_Yes, _Accemenla said curtly, ignoring the implication of the question. Tobias walked on in silence for a few minutes, opening the door to the outside and shivering as a blast of cold air roared inside as he did so.

To his surprise, the outdoor area of the center was far from being just a grassy fenced-in enclosure out behind the building. On the contrary, it resembled nothing so much as a city park, with wide swaths of grass, small pools and even the occasional park bench. Tall buildings rose up on every side of the park, however; there was no street access whatsoever. Just like the human-free back rooms of the pokémon center, this human-free pokémon play area was probably largely protected by the fact that so few people knew that it was here.

"Don't they worry that the pokémon will run away?" Tobias wondered aloud as he stepped out onto the grass and closed the door behind him, watching a pair of pidgeot engaged in an aerial race, streaking through the sky in a wild series of banks and swerves, though never quite rising above the height of the screening buildings.

_Not really, _Accemenla responded, sounding distracted. Tobias guessed, now that he thought about it, that the pokémon didn't really see any point in running away; the center held onto their pokéballs, of course, and no matter how far afield they went, they could be tracked through the devices. It would be little more than a waste of energy, and in the dead of winter in the big city, where thieves and other undesirables were a fact of life, no doubt a dangerous one. Still, many of the younger, more reckless pokémon would probably try it as a sign of bravery or just as a prank.

"So, any idea where they might be out here?" Tobias asked, for though the park was not really large, he would prefer to be back in where it was warm as soon as possible. That, and he was getting very tired after all of the day's excitement.

_Oh, I don't know. Making trouble…somewhere…_ Accemenla waved a clawed paw vaguely, and Tobias sighed, trudging off in more or less a straight line, staring around both with the intent of finding his pokémon and taking in some of the strange sights that the park had to offer. A swalot sagged over a park bench, reading a newspaper. As soon as it had finished a section, it pulled it out, balled it up, and gulped it down as though it was the most natural thing to do in the world. A pair of young mankey was playing hide-and-seek with some caterpie, searching for the worm pokémon on the undersides of newfallen leaves. A hitmontop was feeding the pidgey, only to have them toss a few berries back his way, gathered from the tops of trees where he couldn't reach.

The strange role reversal was almost funny, and Tobias couldn't help but smile at the acts that, so mundane in humans, seemed completely absurd when carried out by pokémon, with their own twists. "I never thought pokémon acted like this," Tobias said, watching in fascination as an ivysaur carefully tended to a flowerbed, covering some of the plants so that they wouldn't be killed by the first frost, which was probably not far away.

_They don't, _Accemenla said flatly. Tobias could tell that she was far from amused by the spectacle. _Wild pokémon don't act like this at all, _Accemenla continued. _Actually, most captured ones don't, either. But a lot of pokémon in this place are bred domestically, of course, and would shudder at the prospect of living out in the _woods _with all of those "uncivilized" members of their species. There are some who simply couldn't survive without their morning cup of coffee, much less without indoor plumbing and some human to tend to their every need._

Tobias flinched slightly at the bitterness that laced the tarsix's psychic tone. "I'm sure their trainers just treat them like any other person, so they pick up on some of this stuff," he ventured. "After all, it wouldn't be fair if we didn't treat pokémon like other people."

_Wouldn't it? _Accemenla responded acidly. _Personally, I'd rather be a pokémon than a person any day. _

Somewhat unsettled, Tobias remained silent, feeling uncomfortable in the face of the psychic-type's clear disdain for her fellow pokémon and, in turn, for commonly-held trainer notions as well. Treat pokémon as your equals, as your friends, and they would lead you to victory. But perhaps not all preferred to be equal…

He was distracted as a great weight suddenly lifted from his shoulder. There was a soft thud behind him as Accemenla landed heavily on the ground. Twisting around to look at the tarsix, Tobias asked, "Accemenla, wha—"

Any question that he might have been about to ask was suddenly cut off as something slammed into him from the side. The world tilted crazily as Tobias toppled over, landing heavily on the lawn, confused and aching from the impact. He tried to prop himself up with one of his hands, but was only shoved back to earth again as something heavy pressed down on his chest. Tobias's view of the almost blindingly blue sky was eclipsed by the anxious face of a linoone peering down at him.

"Chevron?" Tobias gasped, having a little trouble breathing with the linoone on top of him. The normal-type's face lit up with relief and excitement.

"Linoone," Chevron responded, "Oone linoone noone."

"Yeah, Chevron. Chevron…oww..." The linoone had shifted position, causing one of his sharp hind claws to dig painfully into Tobias's abdomen.

Suddenly remembering his dignity and that of his guide, Chevron hastily stepped off of Tobias, allowing him to sit up and regain his breath.

"Guess you missed me, huh?" Tobias asked, grinning and holding out a hand to Chevron.

"Lin," Chevron replied, nudging up under Tobias's hand and allowing the boy to scratch his head.

"Yeah, I missed you too," Tobias said as he started scratching the linoone under the chin. And really, he had, although perhaps he didn't really realize how much until now. Accemenla stood off in the background, probably making a show of scorning their disgusting display of emotion. Chevron purred quietly, and Tobias was content to just sit there for a few more minutes, talking with the linoone and giving him a good scratch.

"So what's Jinx up to?" Tobias asked at length, reluctantly getting back to his feet and stretching a bit. He wavered a little but stood firm after a second. Chevron looked up at him anxiously, sensing that something was amiss. Tobias hadn't told him much about what had happened that had landed Chevron in the center for a week and a half without his guide, simply saying that he'd been sick and not able to care for his pokémon. Maybe, he thought, he would wait until the team was together again and tell them about the incident all at once. Yes, that would be best.

Reassured that Tobias would be all right, Chevron eagerly turned tail and bounded off towards the center of the park, not waiting to see if his guide was following. "Come on, Accemenla," Tobias said sternly. The tarsix's head turned to peer back at him, her attention diverted from drawing patterns in the fallen leaves at a distance. "Time to go," Tobias said, jerking his head towards the retreating Chevron.

_I'll walk, thanks, _Accemenla said coldly, standing up and brushing herself off before starting after Tobias, who was already off in pursuit of his linoone.

Chevron never went too far ahead, always staying within sight and checking over his shoulder occasionally to make sure that his guide was having no difficulty following. Though numerous tantalizing objects beckoned him from all sides, pleading to be investigated, Chevron did his best to keep his mind focused on the objective: find Jinx. Find Jinx. Where had the murkrow been the last time?

Tobias was soon winded, doing his best to keep up a quick trot so as not to slow Chevron down too much. The linoone's low-slung body flowed easily over the ground, carrying him easily onward while Tobias stumbled along behind, Accemenla alternating between a clumsy upright jog and a four-foot scamper.

Making a sharp right turn onto the main park path, Chevron bounded towards the central plaza, his claws scrabbling on the concrete. His anxiety lessened as he caught sight of the fountain up ahead. Yes, right where he'd left him.

Jinx was perched on the rim of the great fountain's bowl, peering intently into it. There they were, gleaming tantalizingly up at him. The murkrow's eyes narrowed, selecting a target. There were so many to choose from, and all so tempting… Jinx shifted his claws slightly, trying to return circulation to the left one. He ignored the cold fountain spray that was slowly soaking through his feathers as he sat there, quietly assessing the situation. Suddenly, the murkrow tensed, leaning forward as he at last made a decision.

"Linoone!"

Jinx didn't even hear the distant voice from behind him as he launched himself off of the rim, diving into the fountain proper. He cut straight through the surface of the water, his beak suddenly jarring painfully against the tiled bottom of the bowl. He held his breath, alternately pecking and clawing at his target in a frenzy of thrashing wings and spraying water.

Chevron slowed to a halt as he came up to the fountain, sighing inwardly as he reared up and placed his clawed paws on the rim, peering in and then flinching slightly back as a splash of water flew at his face. Jinx ducked under once again, working furiously at his quarry without success. The linoone didn't try calling again, knowing that it was useless when the murkrow was intent upon something else.

Tobias, slowly following behind, was thoroughly puzzled. Not having caught sight of the murkrow before he went over the edge, he had no idea why Chevron had led him to a fountain. It was a nice fountain, the central pedestal sculpted in the form of Lugia bursting forth from the waves, screaming a challenge to the heavens as a burst of water jetted from his throat, but Tobias did not think that it would help him much in finding Jinx.

Suddenly, the murkrow himself burst out of the water, dripping wet, disheveled, and clearly in a foul mood. Jinx landed next to Chevron on the rim of the fountain, puffing out his wet feathers and dragging his beak through them irritably. The linoone gave him a look of exasperated incredulity, then turned around to Tobias, grinning expectantly up at him.

"Thanks, Chevron," Tobias said with a return smile. Jinx looked his way at the sound of his voice, red eyes sparkling keenly as he noticed his guide. Bobbing his head in a vague acknowledgement of Tobias's existence, he then turned back to the fountain and stared in once again.

"What were you doing in that fountain, Jinx?" Tobias asked, chuckling a little.

The murkrow grumbled something under his breath, suddenly diving back into the fountain with a splash and a spray of water that smacked Chevron in the face. Tobias quickly walked up to the very edge of the fountain and peered in himself, only to find Jinx struggling wildly to pry a painted tile off the bottom of the fountain. The inside of the bowl had been covered with a beautiful tile mosaic, comprised of blues, greens, and the occasional glittering silver tile.

It was one of these that Jinx was attempting to free from its mooring, with little success. "Jinx, leave the tile alone," Tobias said, smiling despite himself. "Come on, it's stuck down there real good. We're ready to pick up Igneous and then leave the center as soon as we've got you with us."

_Actually, I'm ready to pick up Igneous and leave now, _Accemenla offered, leaning over the edge of the fountain next to Chevron.

Jinx tried for a few more seconds, then dejectedly hopped back out of the water. Cocking his head, he peered cunningly at Tobias, as though weighing the boy's offer carefully. In truth, he was wondering whether or not his guide was telling the truth about the tiles; because, really, it would bring human stupidity to a new high if someone really had gotten it into their head to glue shiny rocks down to things. Honestly, the complete lack of taste that most humans had was astounding.

"Well?" Tobias asked, beginning to get nervous. Did Jinx not want to come with him for some reason?

Jinx decided that he might as well follow the boy. After all, the shiny rocks at the bottom of the pool were clearly a lost cause. Not a great loss, though—if there was one thing that Jinx had learned, it was that there would _always _be more shiny things.

Cawing, he beat his wings a couple of times before taking off, fluttering up to sit on Tobias's head as he had so often in the past.

"Looks like we're all set to go, then," Tobias said cheerfully, looking down at Chevron and Accemenla. The linoone was clearly nearly bursting with excitement to be off and away. Though the park was a large place to roam in, he was already beginning to grow bored and cramped within its confines.

The walk back to the center was pleasant enough, even if the brisk air did nip unpleasantly whenever a breeze whipped across the largely open park and despite the fact that Tobias was feeling tired again. He would soon be reunited with the rest of his team, though, and once that happened… what? More running, more hiding.

It was with a somewhat gloomy aspect that Tobias pulled the door to the center open again, holding onto it as Chevron and Accemenla darted in ahead of him. "Now, where's this pool you were talking about?" he asked the tarsix as he stepped inside himself, letting the door swing shut behind him.

_Just down this way, _she replied, starting off down the hallway confidently. Tobias wondered how she knew her way around the building so well; Accemenla had never really struck him as one to mingle with those she didn't consider her equals, which pretty much excluded all non-psychic-types. Why would she go to the trouble of exploring the haunts favored by fire-types?

After a short walk down the hallway, past dozens of mysterious doors, identical and unlabeled, Accemenla stopped at one, apparently at random. How anyone could find their way around here was beyond Tobias, but apparently the pokémon had little use for extensive signage, relying on some other signals that he couldn't pick up on. Waiting for Tobias, Chevron and Jinx to catch up with her, Accemenla tapped her foot in mock impatience, claws clicking on the tile. Tobias thought he caught the slightest hint of a smile on her face as she stood waiting for them, as though anticipating their reaction to what lay behind the featureless door.

_I present to you… the pool, _she said dramatically, shoving the door open at last. Tobias, standing a couple of feet outside of the room, felt as though he had been smacked in the face. An incredibly powerful blast of heat rolled out from the room, bringing with it a sharp, sooty smell. The room behind the door seemed to glow a muted orange, as though to step inside would be to enter a giant ember.

Tobias stepped up to the threshold to stand beside Accemenla, reluctant to actually enter the room. The pokémon inside turned curiously to watch him, wondering whose human had arrived to pick them up.

Fire-types of all sorts lounged lazily inside the room, and now that Tobias looked at it, it really was a pool—but a pool of lava, as opposed to water. Typhlosion and charizard sat up to their necks in pure molten rock, leaning up against the pool deck. The lava itself seemed to move, then suddenly sprouted curious yellow eyes. Tobias realized that it was nothing but a bunch of slugma, completely camouflaged in their native element.

Even just standing at the edge of the incredible heat was quickly becoming unbearable for Tobias. He was already starting to sweat, and he almost fancied that he could feel himself drying up and withering away in the face of this haven of fire. There were several magmar in the pool, but at this distance he couldn't tell which one, if any, was the one he was looking for. "Igneous?" he called uncertainly. "Igneous, are you in here?" He almost fancied that the words were reduced to ashes long before they reached the ears of the pokémon, but one of the magmar responded, pulling himself out of the pool and trotting towards the door, globs of lava dripping from his frame as he approached.

Tobias felt anxiety rise within him as he watched the magmar approach. Igneous' duck-billed face was as inscrutable as ever, but he certainly didn't seem to be hurrying on his way over to meet his guide. Igneous walked past Tobias and out into the hallway, and Accemenla allowed the door to swing shut after him. As she did so, Tobias got a better look at it and realized that it was thick and clearly made of metal, no doubt extensively insulated in order to prevent the intense heat of the poolroom from leaking out and causing discomfort to those passing by in the hallway. Accemenla must have used a bit of psychic power to keep it open; no doubt it was quite heavy.

It took a moment for Tobias to recognize that he was stalling, putting off his first encounter with Igneous since the lighthouse challenge. A small flare of anger shot up inside him, galvanizing him to turn around and look at the magmar; no guide was supposed to be afraid of talking with his own pokémon. Igneous looked calmly up at Tobias, and if his eyes held any trace of accusation, Tobias couldn't see it. "Ready to go?" he asked the fire-type as cheerily as he could, hoping that his smile didn't appear as strained and nervous as it felt.

"Mag," Igneous grunted, shrugging and turning away. Tobias felt as though he had been punched in the stomach; he hadn't exactly expected an ecstatic greeting, but the magmar's sullen dismissal showed that he and his guide were still on very uncertain terms. It looked as though Tobias had found yet another item to add to his pile of problems that needed to be sorted through.

His pokémon easily picked up on the tension in the air as the silence stretched on for several seconds. Chevron in particular was agitated by it, his fur bristling slightly as he looked back and forth between magmar and human. Accemenla, on the other hand, wore a sly, calculating expression and her eyes rested solely on the magmar, one long claw absently tapping her check as she thought. Even Jinx noticed the change in mood, to some extent, shifting uncomfortably on Tobias's head.

The sudden movement was all that it took to snap the boy out of his guilty thoughts, and he quickly tried to salvage the mood by getting things moving again. "All right. Well, Accemenla, care to show us the way out of here?"

_Of course, _she said neutrally, stepping to the fore of the group and setting off down the hallway again, leading her teammates through the confusing web of branching corridors. Tobias trailed behind, made uncomfortably aware of Igneous' presence by the barely perceptible increase in temperature in the magmar's proximity. Igneous did not look back at Tobias, but stalked in obvious agitation after Chevron down the tiled halls in silence. The merry group had been reduced to a state of complete unease that seemed all the worse for the fact that only Igneous and Tobias understood its true source.

It wasn't long before Accemenla had successfully brought Tobias back to the door that he had entered from and allowed him to take the lead. He made his way back to the center's front desk with his team in tow, finding the same nurse there, idly playing solitaire on one of the computers arrayed behind the counter.

"Oh, all right, then," she said, looking up in surprise to find a boy with a murkrow on his head hovering nearby. "I'll need your pokédex again."

As the large network machine mulled over the information in his license, she looked over his team with idle interest, though as her eyes passed over the group, a slight frown creased her forehead.

"Are those all of them?" she asked uncertainly, peering around Tobias as though she suspected that he might be hiding more pokémon somewhere.

"Uh, yeah," Tobias said, doing a quick check himself to make sure that everyone was present.

Still frowning, the nurse turned back to her computer, clicking into a new program and typing away with sudden vigor. She ignored the network machine as it made a slight coughing noise, followed by a series of loud chugs, spitting an item out into the bin at its side with each sound.

"Oh…oh, never mind," the nurse said, looking at the screen in shock and quickly closing the program that she had been using.

"No, what is it?" Tobias asked, a sinking feeling assailing him.

"Nothing to be worried about," she replied hastily. "I just thought there were some other pokémon that came in with those, but they don't belong to you."

Tobias suddenly had a very good idea of whom exactly they belonged to. "Those other pokémon," he asked, trying to sound casual despite the fact that he was suddenly all the more anxious than he had been a moment before, "what happened to them?"

"Well," the nurse replied, reopening her tracking program almost reluctantly, "it says here that the nidoqueen and butterfree were sent to the pound. The dodrio had to stay here in intensive care for a few days, but I think they found someone willing to take it as soon as it recovered. The alakazam, though, they didn't really know what to do with…it testified in court, of course, and so far as I know, they sent it to the pound after that, supposedly until they could figure out how they could deal with it. I don't know if it's still there.

"Oh," Tobias said, not sure what to make of this information or what he had expected from the nurse's answer, "thanks."

"No problem," she said, diffusing the awkward atmosphere by retrieving Tobias's pokéball, pokédex and chimes from the network machine. He thanked her and indicated to his pokémon that they should come with him to have a seat on one of the unoccupied couches at the front of the center. Tobias couldn't help himself from hurrying a bit across the tiled expanse separating himself from a bit of rest. He sighed gustily and flopped onto one of the couches, sliding down into a low slouch as he sorted out his chimes.

No one had found a reliable way to digitize Tobias's chimes yet, so whenever he wanted to use the PC network he had to put them in special data compression boxes that protected them during their journey through virtual reality. Prising the top off of one of the slim packages, its translucent plastic surface clearly displaying the complex circuitry embedded within, he took out the chime that had been resting within and hung it from his belt. Chevron, who had leapt up onto the couch as well and was now curled up next to him, head on paws, watched idly. Jinx had sidled off his head and was surveying the lobby of the center keenly, on the watch for valuables that needed a better home.

As Tobias retrieved his other two chimes, he wondered again what exactly his next step was. For now, the perpetual cheer and artificial safety of the pokémon center was reassuring, but he knew that all too soon he'd have to be on his way again, exposed to the wiles of enemies both known and hidden. There was the matter of Team Rocket, of course, and the still-possible reciprocation by the Waytarans. At the moment, Team Rocket was the more immediate threat, but it was enough for him to chew on right now anyway. Where could he go that the omnipresent criminal organization could not follow?

Once again, a surge of homesickness swept over him, and he stopped in retrieving Jinx's chime from its box, running his thumb over the familiar carvings that etched its bronze surface. Going back to Waytar was out of the question, now. Jinx still hadn't learned faint attack, and Lighthouse Challenge had merely been a lucky break. It was unlikely that he would find another training opportunity like that in the near future, and it was getting too cold to travel around in the wild. And who knew how much time he could hope for before his enemies caught up with him?

Tobias sunk still lower in his seat, until he was almost lying atop the couch, pressing the back of the hand holding Jinx's chime against his forehead. His eyes roamed the largely empty room, seeking inspiration anywhere. A rough-looking customer was seated at the other end of the cluster of furniture, actively engaged with something on his pokédex while his meditite sat in quiet repose next to him. Nearby, another, younger boy was grooming his poochyena, snatching occasionally glances at the flickering television. Neither paid him any attention, and Tobias suddenly realized that his right leg was getting rather warm. Looking down, he saw that Igneous had sat down on the floor near his guide, leaning up against the couch. It was lucky that the furniture was flame retardant, Tobias thought with a small smile, though the sight of the magmar still brought an unwelcome jolt.

Tobias's eyes traveled to over to the large windows at the front of the pokémon center, but his vision was obstructed by Accemenla. The tarsix was balanced neatly on the arm of the couch, tail flicking occasionally as she gazed idly out onto the street. The psychic-type brought still more unwanted thoughts down upon him. It was always something with Accemenla, some conflict or lurking discrepancy in her nature. She had seemed a bit more kind to him today than usual, and if he didn't know better, he might have thought that she was actually glad to see him back. Tobias couldn't help but smile inwardly; far be it from the hotheaded tarsix to admit that she might be growing fond of him.

Nevertheless, she remained an enigmatic creature, and despite her grudging respect for him, she no doubt remained as intractable as ever in most areas. If only he knew why she had been acting so strangely during the conversation with the Slipstri, what it was that she was hiding. No doubt she knew something important about Waytar, something that only a psychic-type would be able to pick up on.

Tobias suddenly sat bolt upright, startling Chevron and earning a quick glance from Igneous. The boy didn't even notice, fumbling for his pokénav and activating it hastily. Calling up the map feature, he watched eagerly as the projector in the device's center constructed a detailed three-dimensional model of the city, which hovered a couple of inches over the device itself. Tobias quickly located the pound, not too far from the center and still in the pokémon district.

"Ready to get going, guys?" he asked excitedly, flipping his pokénav off and reaching again for his belt, this time to retrieve one of his pokéballs. "Who wants to stay out?"

Chevron, of course, was itching for a good romp through the city and responded enthusiastically, and Jinx cawed what sounded like an affirmative. Tobias recalled Igneous and Accemenla, the clear note of the tarsix's chime causing the boy with the poochyena to look over Tobias's way, surprised.

Tobias stood up and slung his backpack over his shoulder, fatigue momentarily forgotten in the face of his revelation. Jinx leapt off of the back of the couch and fluttered into the air, but seemed intent upon stretching his wings as opposed to riding on Tobias's head. Chevron leaped down after Tobias and followed his guide as the boy left the center, eagerly bounding out ahead as Tobias held the door open for him.

The air was as brisk as before, but Tobias was not to be deterred, ignoring his fatigue and setting off down the sidewalk. Chevron was clearly happy to be out in an unfamiliar place, one which offered a myriad of new sights, sounds, and smells. He romped back and forth across the street, ducking occasionally down alleys and bounding back out a moment later, already distracted and off to investigate some other new wonder. Tobias smiled as the linoone dashed ahead, darting right at a precise ninety-degree angle to go and investigate what appeared to be a discarded paper cup. It was almost impossible to think of Chevron being still at times like this; his very essence seemed to be of movement and exploration.

Jinx, too, was enjoying the city. He approved of Olivine, for it was here that humans had chosen to build their greatest wonders. Tall skyscrapers reared up to the heavens, seemingly all glass and glimmering metal, sparkling tantalizingly in the sunlight and watching over all below. He had never really thought of anything as beautiful, but he thought that these looming monuments might come close. Indeed, their only drawback was that they clutched the earth as resolutely as they stretched towards the sky, making them very immobile and consequently rather difficulty to add to one's collection.

While Tobias' spirits were high, perhaps buoyed by the contentment that was almost radiated by his pokémon, he found himself almost hurrying, his stride fast and long, responding to the undercurrent of urgency that ran below his conscious, cheerful thoughts. He had to make it to the pound before he really had a chance to think, because when he did he would undoubtedly find that he lacked the courage to go through with whatever it was that he wanted to do. As long as he kept his plan no more than half-formed, more an urge for action and a spark of inspiration than any true thought, then there was no possibility of realizing just how ludicrous it actually was.

The trip to the pokémon center had seemed to take an eternity, Tobias' discomfort along the way amplified by his sense of vulnerability and loneliness. With his pokémon there, however, the specter of Team Rocket seemed a lot less substantial than it had before. To Tobias' half-dismay, the journey to the pound was far shorter, or at least he felt as though it was.

Every major city in Johto had a pound. It was here that all of the city's nuisance pokémon were sent, the ones that pilfered from shop and dumpster alike, that interacted with one another through an intricate system of territories and hierarchies and made the back streets unsafe at night. Basically, it was here that the people sent their fears. Unfortunately, while the pound presumably was intended to hold only the truly dangerous or irritating pokémon, it was found to be considerably easier to capture a weak, confused, half-starved domesticated pokémon that had become lost in the city than it was to track down and subdue a creature that had been living on the streets for its whole life, cunning and strong and unafraid. As a result, the pound was filled not with dangerous specimens but with those that were easy to catch and point to when the city was asked what it was doing to cut down on the danger of feral pokémon roaming the streets.

Of course, Tobias knew nothing of this as he shoved open the heavy front doors of the squat, ugly building. He had recalled Chevron and Jinx at the bottom of the steps, unsure of what he would find inside the pound and how his pokémon would react to it. He had also wanted to take a moment to rest on those same steps and was not entirely sure that he wanted to let on to his pokémon just how weak he had become at the moment.

The room that greeted him seemed almost a gloomier version of a pokémon center; the tiles gleaming beneath fluorescent lights and white walls were the same, though the waiting area was nothing more than a few uncomfortable-looking plastic chairs and even the cold fluorescent light seemed gray, casting the sterilely brilliant room in odd shadow. A low desk sat directly opposite the door, the attendant behind it looking up lazily to see who had come in.

"May I help you?" the man asked in a bored tone, eyeing Tobias as the boy approached the desk.

"I'm here for a pokémon," Tobias said. "An alakazam, actually. I heard that it was sent here a few days ago, and I was wondering if you still have it."

"Alakazam?" the attendant asked, showing a sudden spurt of diligent energy as he pounded something into the computer sitting in front of him. "Yes, we have a couple of alakazam here now. One of them has been here for almost a month; the other one came in just last week."

"That's the one," Tobias replied, unsure if the quiver in his voice came from excitement or terror.

"Well, if you'd like to see him, I'll take you right back there," the man replied, pushing his chair back from the desk and standing up. He was wearing a dull uniform whose color was hard to place, though it seemed to blend in with his environment in an almost chameleonic fashion. Not waiting to see if Tobias was following, he started out from behind the desk and made for a door to the left, which was marked "Authorized Personnel ONLY".

Tobias trailed after him obligingly but suddenly stopped in shock as the man pulled the heavy door open. A sudden cacophony began as the soundproof barrier was drawn aside, allowing Tobias to hear the pokémon being kept in the pound before actually seeing them.

Of course, the attendant was not surprised by the sudden blast of noise but merely continued through the door impassively, not holding it open for Tobias. After a moment of shock, Tobias caught the door before it could close completely and slipped through. The sight that greeted him was stunning, to say the least.

The walls of the room seemed alive, obscured as they were by row upon row of metal cages stacked atop one another. Here were housed the smallest of the pokémon that the pound kept, from stray meowth to a lone, forlorn-looking charmander. Many of the pokémon had gone into a frenzy of activity as soon as the door had opened, perceiving that someone might be coming to pick one of them to rescue from their tiny cage. Some threw themselves against the bars of their cages, while others simply barked or yelled or trilled at the tops of their voices, trying to attract attention.

Some of the others, however, were silent, watching Tobias with a variety of expressions as he went past. Most were simply too jaded to be excited by his presence and gave him blank or impassive stares, some even looking lazily out at him like some exotic, mildly interesting animal. A few appeared too shy or dejected to respond as had their more boisterous comrades, withdrawing to the back of their cages. The ones that truly gave Tobias the shivers, however, were those that responded to his curious glance with looks of pure hatred or disgust.

"Are you coming?" Tobias's guide asked, irritated by the slowness of the boy's gait. He had to yell in order to be heard, and Tobias responded with a quick nod, hurrying onwards and trying to ignore the eyes boring into him from all directions.

As they continued down the corridor, they came to a place where it branched off left and right. Tobias took the left after the attendant. The hall that he found himself in was wider than the one before, accommodating the larger enclosures within and, of course, larger pokémon. It was considerably quieter here, as fewer of the cages were filled and fewer of the pokémon were infants, but still loud.

It was not long before they had reached the point where the cages had become big enough to accommodate human-sized pokémon, more reminiscent of prison cells than cages. Tobias's guide had stopped up ahead, waiting impatiently for him to catch up. Feeling more conflicted than ever, he stepped up in front of the cage that the man indicated and looked in, unsure of what to expect.

Like every other of the enclosures in the pound, the alakazam's cell was Spartan to say the least, including only the barest of essentials. Most of the space was taken up by a low bed with a few thin sheets, and it was upon this that Tobias found the pokémon that he was looking for.

He was quite sure that it was Jenny's alakazam, as it still carried only one spoon, the symbol of its power clutched tightly in its left hand. The alakazam was apparently unaware of the humans' presence, seated quietly on the cot and leaning back against the wall of his cell, eyes closed. Tobias hesitated, not particularly wanting to awaken the sleeping psychic-type. It was bad enough that he would have to talk to him at all, much less when he was grumpy after having been awakened.

"Well, go on. Don't be shy," the receptionist said in annoyance.

Hearing the man's voice, the alakazam opened his eyes and turned his head slightly so as to better view of whom it was that had come to see him. He appeared resigned and incurious, his body language suggesting dejection and defeat. As his eyes fell upon Tobias, however, the alakazam's aspect changed. Suddenly becoming alert, the psychic-type slid smoothly down from his perch and stepped up to the front of his cage, grasping one of the thick bars with his spoonless hand as he leaned in close to Tobias, looming over the young boy. A small flash of red light caught Tobias's attention, and as he looked he saw that its source was a strange black band clamped around the alakazam's wrist. Moments later, the light embedded within it blinked again, indicating that some hidden mechanism was still functioning.

"What is that thing?" Tobias asked, morbidly curious.

"That? Psychic dampener," his guide replied. "It emits an electromagnetic field that disrupts the function of psychic-type's brains, sort of like kadabra can give humans headaches. Basically, it's to prevent him from blasting everything that moves. You can't block all of the psychic faculties of alakazam, though. Their necks are too flimsy to hold up their heads without psychic support, so if you turned the device all the way up, they'd suffocate."

"Oh," Tobias said, looking briefly into the alakazam's face before quickly focusing back on the sinister black band again. The red light within winked cheerily back at him.

After a few moments of silence, the pound attendant sighed and asked, "So, is this the one you want?"

To be honest, Tobias hadn't quite decided yet. Common sense was, after all, putting up a good fight, but before he even realized it, he was saying, "Yes, this is the one." Despite his reservations, he felt much better just to have finally gotten the decision off of his chest, for better or for worse.

The pound attendant nodded and pulled a small device, what looked like a remote control, out of one of his pockets and stepped up to the bars next to Tobias. There was a small box affixed to the alakazam's cage, one that displayed a few facts about the pokémon contained within, and below that, a flat black panel. The attendant pressed his remote control up against this and pressed one of the buttons on it. The panel slid up in response, revealing a pokéball that the man reached in and grabbed. He recalled the alakazam without even looking at it, instead quickly scanning the information the control box.

Turning back to Tobias, he asked, "Now, before you fill anything out, realize that the Olivine City Pound claims no responsibility for any damage caused by the pokémon that it releases into a trainer's care. This particular alakazam is considered particularly dangerous, as it has a history of attacking humans. The whole reason that it landed here, in fact, was that it recently seriously injured a young boy about your age."

Tobias flushed slightly and smiled weakly, trying not to think about the implications of the attendant's words.

"If you cannot control this pokémon, do not attempt to adopt it from the pound," the man continued. "We have no way of ensuring your safety if you decide to take it into your care and rely on the discretion of the trainer in selecting a pokémon within their ability to train. Now, if you're sure that you want it, follow me. There's some paperwork that you have to fill out."

Nodding silently, Tobias followed the man back out, trying to ignore the pokémon arrayed on both sides. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to live in a place like this, day after day, stuck in a cage and crammed together with a bunch of other people and never getting any time to yourself, much less the opportunity to do whatever you wanted. The accusatory glares that followed him stung him almost as much as the utterly unsurprised looks of some of the watchers, those long resigned to years spent in this place. Tobias wished that there was some way that he could let all of the pokémon free, or at least do something for them, something that would convince them that he wasn't just another one of the uncaring humans that had locked them up like this. That was out of the question, of course—adopting pokémon from the pound cost money, and it would probably take most of what he had left just to free alakazam.

They returned to the front desk, where Tobias was assaulted with form upon form, prompted to sign over and over again as the city made absolutely sure that he really, _really _wanted to take the dangerous and quite possibly unstable alakazam off of its hands. In the end, however, everything was in order and he was handing over his money, painfully aware of how little remained to him. The attendant presented him with alakazam's pokéball, as well as a small, round device that looked like nothing more than one large button.

"You'll need to deactivate the psychic dampener yourself," the man explained, indicating the strange object. "While you won't be able to use that alakazam in battle or anything until you get rid of the dampener, some people find it more…prudent…to try to get to know their new psychic-types a bit before removing it. And remember, once you take it off, you won't be able to put it back on."

Tobias nodded, accepting both pokéball and dampener control. He slipped the small device into his pocket but refrained from adding the alakazam's ball to his belt; he held onto it while he thanked the man behind the counter and started for the door again.

Once outside, he felt gripped by an almost manic energy, a definite sense of purpose. He walked quickly down the street, pausing only to refill his canteen at a water fountain before moving on, restlessly scanning the buildings lying to either side. At last he found one that looked promising, a large grocery store, and entered eagerly. He browsed up and down the aisles, carefully selecting food that would keep well over a long trip as well as be fairly nourishing; he did need to recover his strength, after all. It was a little more work to find a few boxes of matches, but he got them eventually, adding them to his shopping basket and carefully figuring out how much the items that he had already added up to. He'd had to clip the alakazam's pokéball to his belt in order to have both hands free, but he couldn't get the thought of it out of its mind. After all, it was probably his last hope—or his last mistake.

In the end, he managed to spend nearly all of his money, the cashier returning to him only a scant few coins along with the bag containing his purchases. The change he dumped into a jar sitting at the end of the counter that collected donations for some charity or other. He ignored the smile that the cashier gave him as he did so, simply enjoying the sound of the last of his money clattering down into oblivion. There was no point in it now.

Leaving the store, he stopped outside and carefully added his purchases to his pack, folding up the plastic bag that they had come in and stuffing that in as well. You never knew when something like that might come in handy, after all, and who knew if it would matter anyway?

Tobias started on his way again, headed for a large battle park that he had passed on his way to the pound. It was a hard place to miss, and despite his unfamiliarity with the city he was easily able to locate it. He didn't stop to watch the odd battle going on within as he normally would have, headed for a more secluded spot at the center of the park. While he had tried to pick a place where a lot of people would be around, just in case something went wrong, he still felt a need to distance himself from the rest of the crowd, not wanting anyone to overhear just exactly what was about to go on.

At last finding a place that suited his purposes well, a scruffy patch of grass alongside a currently unoccupied battlefield, he stopped, grabbed his new pokéball, and tossed it to the ground. Alakazam materialized before him, psychic dampener still working silently to keep his powers at bay.

It was a good thing, too, as the malice that the psychic-type's eyes held as he regarded Tobias indicated that the boy would probably have deeply regretted it were the alakazam in complete control of his powers. Despite the assurance that he was safe, provided by the dampener's steady blinking, Tobias took an involuntary step back, almost as though the alakazam's hatred was a physical force that shoved away.

"Listen, listen," he said hastily, trying not to let his fear show. It was too late to go back now. "I know that you don't like me, and I don't like you much either, but…"

He broke off as Alakazam snorted, eyes glimmering.

"…but I think that it might be in our best interest to work together for a while. Wait!" Tobias added hastily as he saw alakazam on the verge of turning around and ignoring his new trainer completely. "You want to go back to Waytar, right?"

Alakazam looked back at Tobias, a faint flicker of interest in his eyes.

"I mean, you were only sent here as punishment because I got away from you," his eyes went nervously to Alakazam's lone spoon as the psychic type clutched it tighter, the anger in his eyes deepening as Tobias brought up old pain. The boy continued, talking as fast as he could, "So now you have me. I'm ready to go with you. Just take me back and turn me in."

Alakazam's look of loathing turned to one of shock, and he tilted his disproportionately large head to one side as if unsure that he had heard Tobias right. After a few moments of silence, wherein the boy waited anxiously for some sort of response, he burst out into a fit of dry, wheezy laughter that sounded unusually chilling coming from a creature who communicated only nonverbally.

"No, really," Tobias said over the psychic-type's mirth. "I know that something bad is coming to Johto. Team Rocket is after me, not to mention whatever friends of yours might still be around here. Really, I'd much prefer to go back to Waytar, even if it means giving myself up to the government. They'd probably be much more lenient if I just went in and explained my situation to them; it's not like I've actually done anything wrong." He hoped desperately that that psychic dampener also managed to block Alakazam's ability to read minds, as otherwise he would simply be able to look into Tobias's head and discern his true intentions. Unless, of course, it was true that his mind was unreadable for some reason. Even as it was, he feared that his excuse didn't hold water and that the highly intelligent Alakazam wouldn't fall for it. Unless, of course, the psychic-type felt as trapped as he did himself…

Alakazam's laughter died out, and Tobias waited anxiously as the psychic-type contemplated. An odd range of emotions seemed to play in the pokémon's eyes, from skepticism to anger to hope. At long last, the pokémon nodded, uttering a solemn "Zam."

"All right, then," Tobias said shakily. "You can teleport us both straight there, can't you?" Another nod.

Tobias couldn't help but watch the hypnotic flashing of the psychic dampener as he retrieved the device that would deactivate it, its regularly pulsing red light seeming like some strange electronic heartbeat. As he stood there, holding the deactivation button in one hand, he felt that there was still a chance that he might be able to stop here, to not go any farther and salvage something of what was left of his life here in Johto. Maybe even start over again, for the second time in his life. It was not entirely out of the question.

Schooling himself carefully, Tobias forced his mind away from such thoughts, blanking it out as much as possible. He could not afford to let Alakazam catch wind of his plans before he put them into action and had to keep his thoughts away from them as much as he could. Steeling himself, he pressed the button.

The constant heartbeat stopped, the psychic dampener going dead and useless. Alakazam immediately tore it off using his psychic power, no doubt reveling in his returned ability to crush the offending item that no longer had any hold over him. As he mentally cast the black band aside, an extremely unpleasant leer spread across his mustachioed face. Tobias had only the merest of seconds for realization and horror at the foolishness of his decision before the alakazam raised his spoon, now glowing with renewed power, and burning darkness closed in over Tobias's mind once again.


	33. No Questions Asked

**Author's Notes: **As you may have noticed, the summary has been changed, thanks to the fact that FFN has decided that hyphens are evil and turned the previous summary into a string of gibberish. I never liked the old one, anyway, but seriously, what did a little hyphen ever do to anybody?

**Chapter Thirty-Three: No Questions Asked**

The rickety wooden stairs creaked audibly as David slowly ascended them, wheezing as he went, both from the strenuous climb and from the clouds of dust that billowed up with his every step. He stopped for a moment to rest, leaning up against one of the walls of the narrow shaft for a moment before he doubled over, coughing violently. Wiping his dripping eyes and nose carelessly on his sleeve, he sniffed and blinked blearily up at the staircase before him, which continued its steady upward climb for at least thirty more steps, the door at the top still lying far above.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself for the final climb, and immediately regretted it as the deep draught of dust threatened to send him into another fit of coughing. It was fortunate that he rarely had to make the journey up to the tower, as the state of the staircase attested. David was less than eager to make the long climb just to confirm the sad happening to which he had already resigned himself. But the great bell at the top of the tower had pealed last night, its melancholy voice announcing dispassionately that another soul had been lost amongst the dark trees that lay just beyond the outskirts of the temple walls. Death had rung, and David ascended to answer.

After several more minutes of arduous climbing, he at last reached the door and gratefully shoved it open. Tension making him irritable, David pushed harder than he meant to, causing the reluctant portal to fly open with a squeal of rusty hinges.

The room that presented itself to him was, if at all possible, even more unpleasant an environ than the stairway that lead up to it. The vast bell hung far overhead, well out of the reach of any man. What dread meaning the strange symbols etched into its burnished surface had, none could remember, and few cared. This part of the bell tower was open, large, empty windows set into every wall affording an excellent view of the utter solitude in which the temple resided. On three sides rolling grasslands could be seen stretching into the distance, their featureless vastness almost crushing in its utter stillness. To the north, however, the window opened upon a swath of densely packed trees, the outskirts of a forest that sprang up incongruously in the midst of the plains, as though nourished by some dark secret buried beneath the soil there.

David shook his head, trying in vain to discard his macabre mood. Most quickly grew dour and withdrawn under the influence of the forest—and its inhabitants.

It was these that had left for him a present, tucking it up berneath the northern window. Sighing, David stepped across the warped floorboards and bent down, hefting the formidable tome and tracing the name stamped into its cover. Damien. Damien Darksand—another for the records. As soon as he returned to the lower levels of the temple, David would see to it that a messenger was sent to the boy's parents.

Tucking the guidebook under his arm, David shook his head sadly. The boy had been too young, as they always were. Ambitious and talented, confident that he could tame the dark energy lurking in the trees and bend it to his own will. And, like so many before him, he had failed. Of course, David thought, briefly thrown into a moment of contemplation, what if he had succeeded? Those who emerged victorious from the forest's dark challenge were those that the acolyte most studiously avoided, for truly, what kind of man could survive its test?

As he stood to leave, something else caught David's eye. Lying right up against the northern wall was another object, something that had previously been blocked from view by the huge book. Frowning, he bent down and picked it up. It was a guide's chime, a bronze one. His expression growing still more dire, David turned the device about in his free hand, inspecting it. This was unheard of. Always it was the same—the death bell rang at midnight, signaling the loss of another to the forest. The creatures left the guidebook at the top of the tower so that the unfortunate soul could be identified. Nothing more, nothing less.

But now there was this, a chime whose occupant, it appeared, had gone the same way as its master.

David ran his thumb pensively along the wide, jagged crack that ran the length of the chime, slashing straight through the intricate runes, and wondered.

* * *

Tobias was invited back to reality by a piercingly cold shock. Gasping involuntarily as he struggled to keep his balance, he reflexively opened his eyes, though somewhat afraid of what he might see before him; perhaps Alakazam, prepared to send another burst of psychic energy his way?

Instead, however, he saw the psychic-type looking nearly as shaky as he, standing limply and utterly drained in the knee-deep water.

Tobias blinked his streaming eyes and shook his ringing head, trying to clear it. Water?

His momentarily forgotten chill instantly returned, and Tobias shivered, realizing that he, too, was partially immersed in the freezing liquid, which accounted for his rude awakening. Alakazam wearily raised his head and looked around in evident satisfaction, despite the hunching of his shoulders and the drooping of his moustaches. Some remnant of an earlier idea flitted through Tobias's scattered mind, and he reflexively raised Alakazam's pokéball and choked out a return command. The tired pokémon was too weak to resist.

If Tobias had found the jump from the lighthouse to Jenny's hotel room unpleasant, he had never had a transcontinental teleport with which to compare it. The blinding pain and confusion associated with its completion were such that, for several minutes, Tobias could do nothing but stand and shiver dumbly, with a dull sort of wonderment in his mind as he half-contemplated where he was.

The aching cold of his legs was suddenly broken as something bumped against them, jarring Tobias out of his hazy reverie. Starting with surprise, he quickly scanned the water to all sides, jumpy and agitated.

Again something nudged at him, this time from behind, and Tobias twisted around in panic, only to stare into a most mischievous face. Large, dark eyes watched him in obvious amusement, set into a dark blue face with long, curly white whiskers that dripped water.

"Ott! Ott!" the pokémon barked, delighted by Tobias's comical bewilderment. With a quick movement and a spray of water, it dived back beneath the ocean's surface and darted around to his other side.

Trying to get a grip on his surprise and confusion despite his continued headache, Tobias turned to follow the strange creature's motion, only to stagger backwards as it flicked water at him with its long, thin tail. "Hey!" he cried indignantly, which only seemed to increase the pokémon's delight. It frolicked around him delightedly, barking and splashing him with gusto. Clearly, it wanted to play.

Tobias, however, was not in the mood, and ignored the pokémon's antics, instead focusing on getting his bearings. A quick glance at the sky was all that was needed to confirm his suspicions; having lived for some time in Johto, he was easily able to recognize the unnatural haze that seemed to hang in the heavens, turning them a pale gray despite the lack of clouds and tinting the sun a weak, sickly yellow-green. There was no doubt that he had moved through the shield once again. Tobias smiled despite the pain in his head, then flinched as another burst of water struck him.

"Look, just leave me alone, all right?" he said as he rounded on the offending pokémon. It gave him a sly grin and responded by blasting him with a water gun. Growling, Tobias staggered unsteadily after it, his numbed legs and the weakness associated with teleport making him unsure of his footing. The pokémon, more than willing to play a game of chase, gleefully bounded on ahead, moving into the shallows where even its short legs touched the sand. Shaking itself slightly, it realized that it was no longer being followed and turned to give a reproving glance to the strange human who had so intriguingly appeared out of midair in the company of an alakazam.

The boy was paying it no attention, transfixed by the sight of the city that opened up before him. The pokemon grinned. The city often had that effect on the younger guides, those just staggering into town, usually bone-weary and wanting nothing more than to find the pokémon center and have a rest. Even they found a moment to spare for awe, however. Salt Bay City was second only to Saltmarsh in size and second to none in sheer character.

Tobias was not staring for the reasons that the pokémon assumed, however. The sight of the huddled buildings, slate-roofed and often lacking glass in their window frames, made him feel almost more disoriented than he had after awakening to find himself in a place he had long thought dead. There he had been stepping forward into the complete unknown and the impossible, dazzled by everything. Now he was stepping back into a memory, one that he had half wanted to forget. It was a mark of how much his time in Johto had changed him that he felt so alien and distanced from the people who were clearly visible hurrying about on the streets, confident and secure in their tight, walled-in world. Once, Tobias might have called the city majestic, awe-inspiring; now, it looked almost quaint.

He was brought out of his contemplation by a gleeful cry of "Ottie!" Confused, he blinked and then focused on the pokémon that had previously been tormenting him. It was bounding up onto the beach, forgetting completely about the strange boy and his alakazam, and making a beeline for a young girl who was dashing equally as eagerly to meet it. The pokémon bounded up into the girl's outstretched arms, accidentally knocking her over backwards. She didn't seem to mind, however, hugging it tightly without regard for its dripping wet fur and giggling as it wriggled around in her grasp, trying to lick her face.

Regarding the girl as though she was yet another strange pokémon, Tobias tried to edge his way back to shore discreetly, though his continued lack of coordination didn't help him at all in this regard. He blundered through the surf, at last slogging up onto dry sand, where he stood, shivering. The girl released her pokémon, and it bounded back over to him, barking again, as she picked herself up, brushing sand off her skirt.

"Hi. I'm Alyssa," the girl said, advancing on Tobias in the pokémon's wake. She looked up at the older boy with a gap-toothed grin. "Did Ottie find you?"

"Uh, yes," Tobias said, his eyes darting uneasily down to watch the pokémon, which was sniffing at one of his sneakers with extreme interest. "Yes, Ottie found me."

"He's good at finding people," Alyssa informed Tobias. "Don't worry about him, he's not going to hurt you." She had apparently picked up on Tobias's unease around the unfamiliar creature.

"Oh, I know," Tobias said with a weak smile. Never mind that he hadn't. He shouldn't feel so uneasy just speaking to a little girl like this. After all, just because he was in Waytar didn't mean that absolutely everyone he ran into was worthy of suspicion.

"You look funny," Alyssa said suddenly, scanning him critically. Her green eyes, which had previously been wide and radiating excitement, were now clouded as she favored him with a puzzled, confused gaze. "And you're all wet."

"I…I do?" Tobias asked, instantly put on edge. A cursory glance down at himself was all that it took to make him groan inwardly. Of course! How stupid could you get? Had he really forgotten how differently people dressed in Waytar? There he was, decked out in his bright red League jacket, orange backpack, and sturdy, if scuffed, tennis shoes. None of which, of course, were in fashion in Waytar. Most of the materials that they were made out of hadn't even been _invented_ yet. Alyssa continued to look up at him innocently, awaiting an answer. Ottie mimicked her, deep blue eyes staring up at him above an almost mournful expression. "Yeah," Tobias said, chuckling weakly and wondering if his voice sounded as odd to her as it suddenly did to his own ears. "Yeah. I'm, uh, dressed up to practice for the festival. This is just a costume."

"Festival?" Alyssa asked, her expression flitting back to eager excitement. "I didn't know there was a festival coming soon!"

Tobias gave her a shaky smile, relief flooding his veins. "Well, it's supposed to be a secret, you know," he said as conspiratorially as he could, though his voice was still unsteady. "Don't tell anyone."

"Oh, I won't, I won't!" Alyssa said with enthusiasm, looking positively enraptured by the idea of a festival. "But where is it going to be?"

"Now, I can't tell you that," Tobias said, his smile strengthening.

Alyssa put a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle of excitement, her eyes gleaming up at him. Apparently, she wanted to show him just how quiet and secretive she could be. Tobias grinned in earnest and shook his head, declining her mute invitation to go on. "Well, I think I had better be getting back to the city. There's a lot of preparations to be made, after all."

"Can I come with you? Please?" Alyssa cried imploringly, taking her hand from her lips. Her pokémon nudged her with his snout, however, looking uncharacteristically stern.

"What would your parents think if they found out you had been wandering around the city with some strange performer, huh?" Tobias asked, guessing at Ottie's meaning. "Imagine if they came out to the beach and found you'd disappeared."

Alyssa pouted unhappily. "I have Ottie with me," she protested. "They know I'd be safe as long as he came, too." The pokémon merely shook his head at this, however, and Tobias mimicked him.

Personally, Tobias didn't think that Ottie looked like a very reliable guard-pokémon, but all that he said was, "Sorry, but I think you'd better stay here. But hey, I hope I'll see you at the festival, right?"

The girl's expression only became more petulant, but Ottie gave him a cheery bark and rose up onto his hind legs, waving one of his stubby front paws. Tobias smiled and waved back, walking backwards up the shore for a short distance. "Bye," he called, his good spirits not dampened by the way that Alyssa crossed her arms and refused to wave back. Turning his eyes back to the city, Tobias began his trudge in earnest.

Feeling was starting to return to his legs, and his headache had temporarily receded to a dull throbbing at the back of his mind. No doubt it had only been temporarily been stifled by the adrenaline rush of his terror and would soon come roaring back, but at the moment, Tobias didn't care.

The first row of buildings was just ahead, their weathered faces staring back at him blankly. Trying to focus, Tobias

wracked his brain for where he should go next. A port city this large could only be Salt Bay, of course. The city's reputation claimed that it was a place where you could buy whatever your heart desired. As the largest port in Waytar and the heart of its shipping industry, Tobias guessed that the statement was probably true.

Tobias presently found himself in an alley, the sharp, clean tang of the salty breezes that blew through the streets struggling to mask the stench of the sodden garbage that lay in heaps between the buildings to either side of him. He wrinkled his nose and hurried out onto the street proper. It was still narrow and, blessedly, currently free of pedestrians. Tobias kept walking in the same direction, reasoning that the city's main attractions would be found further inland. The port and the markets that fed it were actually off to the east, opening onto the bay itself instead of onto the open ocean.

His right hand hurt. Tobias realized that he was still clutching Alakazam's pokéball in a deathgrip. Dropping it into his left palm, he shook his hand out and reflected that he'd need to get better at hiding his emotions if he planned to make a new life for himself here. If a little child had gotten him that worked up…

The pokéball was one of the first problems that needed to be solved. It was only a matter of time before Alakazam recovered somewhat and tried to break out and whisk Tobias off to one of his superiors. He needed to get the thing as far away from himself as possible, and fast.

Still more urgent than that, however, were the clothes. Tobias grimaced. At least he's planned to have to barter for supplies already. A full set of decent clothes would be expensive, though, and while he was temporarily set in terms of food—as his aching shoulders attested—he'd need a compass and a guidebook, at the very least.

Or would he? Glancing around, Tobias was relieved to see that the street was still deserted and quickly grabbed his pokénav from his belt. Turning it on, he was disappointed as it irritably gave him an error message, claiming that it could not establish a connection with the network. No doubt his pokédex would be just as helpful. Sighing, Tobias tossed them both into his pack, and then, realizing again how suspicious it looked, chucked Igneous' pokéball in as well. He kept Alakazam's pokéball out with him, though, as he wanted it to be close to hand when he spotted an opportunity.

Igneous. That was another problem he had to deal with. Sighing, Tobias pushed the matter to the back of his mind as he heaved the heavy pack back over his shoulders. Clothes first, Alakazam second, a place to stay third. Actually, if this really was Salt Bay, the Water Temple would be quite nearby. Tobias's nervousness couldn't beat back the spark of excitement that flared at the thought. If he was really going to put the past behind him and get back to being a normal guide, what better place to head?

Feeling a little better, Tobias started off through the fish-smelling streets again, totally lost but not feeling too bad for it. He had realized that the small shanties around here were actually fishermen's shacks, currently unoccupied as the men themselves were still out gathering in their catch. Here, at least, he could count on a little privacy.

But it was not long before the streets were broadening and becoming, thankfully, a little more clean. Having become used to the paved city streets of Johto, relatively well kept save for the omnipresent litter, he was rather unprepared for the state of Salt Bay's network of lanes and alleys. They weren't exactly squalid, but neither were they altogether pleasant. Uncharacteristically, Tobias did his best to stay out of the puddles—he didn't much want to think what they might be puddles _of_.

The people now hurrying past him on the streets didn't seem at all perturbed, of course. If anything, they thought they had it good—the best in the world, in fact. A wry smile twisted Tobias's lips for a moment, but, surprised at the sudden dark thought, he quickly banished it. Bitter mirth was replaced quickly by anxiety as the press of people grew more crushing. Tobias felt that everyone was staring at him, puzzling at his bizarre appearance. Maybe even suspecting… but no, that was impossible.

In truth, most of the passersby were far too wrapped up in their own concerns to take notice of the jumpy, oddly-dressed boy darting past them in the street. They brushed past the street urchins and peddlers with a practiced ease that Tobias lacked, and he soon found himself trying to extricate himself from one officious merchant after another, each trying to press some equally suspect product upon him.

Trying to slip away from a boy a couple years younger than himself carrying a tray of assorted berries, Tobias felt increasingly ridiculous. He needed to find somewhere where he could buy some new clothes—preferably cheap—and guide supplies as well. The fact that he didn't have any Waytaran money, of course, ruled out a lot of the establishments that he passed, but still he scanned the shop windows hopefully. At the same time, he was trying to work his way towards the heart of the city, home to its great marketplace and the real center of the action. The shifting crowds and dizzying street layout quickly had him completely turned around, however, and he soon found himself stumbling around the shadier side of town. Gaunt and mean-looking persians crouched outside of taverns and there seemed to be a dark pall in the air, an aura of ill will that persisted even though the street seemed as busy as ever.

And then Tobias saw it. It was just what he had been looking for, really. A rather ill-favored building with bubbly windows so grimy that they seemed totally opaque, it huddled between a bar and what appeared to be a warehouse of some kind. Over the door was a sign that read, in red, peeling letters, "One-Eyed Jack's Secondhand." Below, in smaller face, ran the lines, "All goods bought and sold. No questions asked." Frowning, Tobias continued to look. Well, maybe not _just _what he had been looking for, but he supposed it would do.

Making a beeline for the seedy establishment, Tobias suddenly came to a halt, an idea striking him. Yes, it would be best if he could kill two birds with one stone. And his surroundings seemed conducive to dark deeds. A little strangeness would probably go unnoticed here.

Pressing himself up beneath the eaves of the warehouse and trying to blend into the shadows, Tobias reached for Accemenla's chime and rang it as quietly as he could, fancying himself rather stealthy.

Accemenla's form had hardly settled out of the swirling mist released by her chime before she tensed and glanced left and right, as though sensing the gravity of the situation even before fully materializing in it. It was not exactly agitation that assaulted her, however; it was that old feeling again, a sort of tingling beneath the skin, almost like an itch. That was the power flowing through the air, always just out of reach and yet comforting nonetheless, reminding her that she was safe, protected, watched over. Except that she wasn't; not now.

The tarsix's gaze flicked to Tobias, and she froze, the question she had been about to snap at him dying half-formed. The boy was huddled up against the wall of some tumbledown, seedy old building, lurking in a scrap of shadow and standing out like a very sore thumb in his bright red league jacket. His furtive glances up and down the street and the absurdity of his position made him incredibly conspicuous. _What are you _doing? _You look like an idiot! _Accemenla snapped.

"What do you mean?" Tobias hissed back in a low voice. "I'm trying not to attract attention, here."

Accemenla groaned inwardly. At least he'd had the common sense not to slip off into one of the shadowy alleys (though only because after peering down them on several occasions he had been surprised to find things peering back). _Listen, you look really suspicious. It's pretty difficult to blend into the shadows in that getup. Just act normal, and people will pay less attention to you._

Tobias looked at her doubtfully but shuffled forward a couple of inches, adopting a somewhat less guilty pose. The tarsix sighed. _So, Master, why exactly are you trying to become one with that dirty building, anyway? And what do you need me for this time?_

"I need you to deal with this for me," Tobias said, bending down and extending his hand to her. Puzzled, the tarsix reached out with a clawed paw, and was surprised when he dropped something small, round, and familiar into her palm.

_A pokéball? _Accemenla said in surprise, then mentally kicked herself when she realized she had thought aloud. She hated to let Tobias know that he had managed to surprise her.

"Yeah, I need you to get it out of here for me," Tobias said, squatting down in front of her so he could talk to her better. "The farther the better, really. I was thinking maybe you could levitate it into the pocket of somebody leaving the city or something like that."

For a moment Accemenla just looked at him, then transferred her gaze to the pokéball in her hand. She rolled the minimized device back and forth between her fingers, a cold, knowing look coming into her eyes and an unpleasant smile appearing on her face. Tobias's heart sank.

_Very well, then, _she said, closing her hand over the pokéball and hiding it from view. _But tell me, why exactly is it that you want me to get rid of the magmar for you? I know that you two haven't been on very good terms, but still, I hadn't quite thought you that uncaring yet. _

"That's not Igneous," Tobias said hurriedly and a little angrily. "Listen, Accemenla, just do it, all right? I'm not in the mood for trying to deal with your attitude. Please, help me out here. You don't know everything that's going on, okay?"

The tarsix looked up at him. The unsettling smile was gone but, if anything, her eyes were colder. Tobias could see himself reflected in them, and briefly wondered what Accemenla saw when she looked at him. _I think I do understand, _the tarsix said softly. She stared at him for a moment longer, making Tobias rather uncomfortable, then allowed her gaze to flick to the hazy blue-gray sky. _Very well, then. I'll dispose of this for you. I suppose you'll want to meet again later?_

Unsettled, especially by the tarsix's use of the word "dispose", but too relieved to think twice, Tobias nodded hurriedly. "Yeah, I'm just going to go into that shop down there. I'll wait for you outside afterward. It won't take you very long?"

_I doubt it will, _Accemenla replied shortly, and briskly turned and trotted off down the street. Tobias straightened up again and watched as she turned down the nearest alleyway, vanishing around the corner. Guilt started to nag at him and his headache was returning, but he shoved both aside wearily. Alakazam would be fine. Whenever he managed to get out of his pokéball he'd surely be able to fend for himself, and as long as he was far away from Tobias, the boy was fine with that. He had more pressing matters now.

Setting off down the street again, he stopped before One-Eyed Jack's, took a deep breath, and then shoved the door open.

The interior of the shop was unsurprisingly dim and unwholesome-feeling. A large, grimy sort of fellow peered suspiciously at Tobias from behind the counter. The boy was surprised to see that he had both his eyes, although they looked a bit watery and mean. The mankey, balancing atop one of the teetering piles of miscellany that sat near the desk, was apparently who the shop was named for. Tobias felt its lone unfriendly eye on him as he stepped over the threshold and tried not to shiver.

"You lookin' for anything in particular?" the man growled, and Tobias jumped a bit in spite of himself.

"No, uh, no, just…just browsing," he said lamely. The man grunted, but made no move to press the matter. Tobias could feel his hostile gaze burning into the back of his neck as he started to rummage around the shop.

Fortunately, the selection was good—the shop seemed to stock just about everything, from old, tattered books to rusty farm implements to an unsettlingly large selection of knives that were on display behind the counter, within easy reach of the proprietor. It was pretty much just clothes he was after, and maybe a guidebook and a chime or so if he could find one, but other than that he had gotten pretty much all the supplies he had needed back in Johto. Oh, and he'd need a compass, too.

Picking through the stacks of merchandise, he came across a couple of shirts that looked as though they were more or less his size and in decent condition, if not exactly of great quality. As long as they were warm and not terribly unusual, Tobias wasn't altogether worried about them. Gathering them up, Tobias moved on, setting aside cracked picture frames and broken toys as he dug for the stuff underneath.

A sudden noise caught his eye, and the stack of merchandise next to him shuddered slightly. Looking up, puzzled, Tobias found himself staring into the beady eye of the mankey. It watched him shrewdly, close enough that he could hear its grunting breath and, unfortunately, catch a whiff of its scent as well. Trying to ignore it, he turned away and continued his search.

Time passed and Tobias slowly collected the items he was looking for. The shopkeeper lost interest and went back to polishing what looked like a fair collection of most likely ill-gotten silverware, but the mankey continued to follow him, its single eye constantly boring into his back. It appeared highly suspicious of him for some reason. At last he'd found all the clothes he thought that he would need and was just browsing around in hopes of finding something else useful. He actually found it pretty interesting to sift through the disorganized merchandise and sort trash from treasure. There were all manner of unusual items here, from small portraits of grim-faced people to old pieces of pottery and scraps of metal. To his surprise and delight, he even found an old guidebook, quite out of date and with the cover torn off, but overall better than nothing. He added the heavy book to his collection of items and tried not to think about how much it would weigh his already considerably hefty backpack down.

The guidebook wasn't the only unexpected boon that he found, however. Even in Johto, where the season was slowly turning on towards the rainiest part of fall with the promise of snow in the near future, he had been regretting the fact that he didn't have a sturdy pair of boots. Sneakers, while fine for trekking around on warm summer days, were far from waterproof and wouldn't do him much good in deep snow or mud. Tobias was therefore delighted to find a pair of old, battered workboots lurking in a dark corner. They weren't the best fit, but he would manage. And while quite ready to do away with his shoes, he had been quite reluctant to give up his jacket. It was very warm and waterproof, something he doubted he'd be as able to say of a cheap, Waytaran one, Tobias had been pleasantly surprised to find a coat large enough to wear on top of it, hiding its incriminating bright colors from curious eyes. Though the garment was covered wtih some sort of coarse, musty animal fur, causing Tobias to fancy that he looked something like an ursaring when he wore it, it would do. He smiled when he tried it on, noticing how the mankey jumped back slightly at the sight of him. At least he could count on the repellant properties of bad fashion to ensure that people were disinclined to look at him twice.

At last he tore himself away from the intriguing junk (he could almost swear he was turning into Jinx, combing over refuse in search of something interesting to add to his stash) and approached the front counter. Now came the difficult part.

"I'd like to buy this stuff, please," Tobias said, dumping his pile of goods on the counter.

"Right, then," the store owner grunted as the mankey leapt up onto the desk next to him, both human and pokémon quickly appraising his purchase. "That'll be 15,000 Pk," the man concluded after a moment.

Tobias's breath hissed between his teeth as he glanced worriedly at his stack of stuff. That was very expensive, especially for secondhand goods, but of course he didn't have any money to pay with in the first place. "Well, I don't, uh, actually have any money," he said. Seeing the look on the shopkeeper's face, he hurriedly added, "but I do have some items that I think you might be very interested in instead."

"Well, let's see 'em, then," the man said in a skeptical tone.

Tobias shucked off his pack and let it down, with a thud and a clatter, on the counter. The mankey, somewhat startled, leapt up and darted around to perch on the shopkeeper's back. Realizing its mistake, it glared at Tobias with even more enmity than before, but the boy didn't notice.

Unzipping his backpack hurriedly—ignoring the puzzled gaze the shopkeeper gave the zipper—he quickly brought out one of the boxes of matches that he had bought. He'd thought that the matches would be a good bargaining chip, something useful and not yet invented in Waytar and at the same time not so high-tech as to be suspicious. Sliding open the box, he pulled out a match and showed it to the man and his mankey.

"With this," he said, "you can make a fire anywhere you want, even if you don't have a fire pokémon or some flint and tinder."

The pair appeared unconvinced as they stared at the matchstick. Tobias grinned inwardly but tried to keep his face calm. "All that you have to do is strike it on something rough, like _this…_" He ran the match across the abrasion strip on the side of the matchbox and was relieved when it obligingly flared up; he hadn't wanted to look silly by having to strike the match multiple times to get it to light. "…and you can use it to light a candle, start a fire, or whatever else you want."

Tobias shook the match out and tried not to seem anxious as he watched the shopkeeper's face. At the moment, the man's eyes were lazily following the small plume of smoke that drifted up from the charred end of the matchstick. His hopes were riding on this.

"Interesting," the proprietor conceded at last. Tobias was heartened as he saw a small greedy gleam in the man's eyes, but knew that the shopkeeper was undoubtedly a hard bargainer. "No way that one box of those little fire-sticks is going to get you all this stuff, though," the man added with an unpleasant smirk.

"You can't find these anywhere else," Tobias said, waving the match around in the air for emphasis. "It could be months, even years, before you see even one more of these, and here I am offering you an entire box."

"And where," the man behind the counter asked softly, "might a boy like you be getting your hands on an amazing invention like this?"

"Err…" Tobias said, taken aback and feeling his mind go unhelpfully blank, "No questions asked?" He tried to stamp the query out of his voice, but failed.

Fortunately, the man accepted his response with little more than a few irritable, muttered words. "Fine, then. They'll do for payment. But still, there's no way you can hope to pay for everything with just that."

Tobias relaxed a bit. They were past the hard part; all that was left now was the bargaining.

The two humans haggled for a while, and the mankey grew bored and wandered off to rearrange some of the items on a distant shelf. In the end, Tobias was able to convince the man to part with the clothes, at least, for all the matches that he had. The guidebook, however, was proving more problematic.

"Listen, I can't let this go for just a few unusual items," the proprietor said unyieldingly, slamming his palm onto the heavy tome. "You know how rare it is to pick one of these up? The guides are a real secretive lot, don't like this sorta info getting out. Most of these old things are up and destroyed when nobody wants 'em anymore."

Exasperated, Tobias tried to think of what else he could offer in exchange for the book. He'd really prefer to hang onto his food and what items he had left, not that they were of much value anyway. Perhaps he could try to pawn off his badges, but he felt a little twinge of regret as he thought about giving up his hard-won prizes and realized he wouldn't really be able to pitch them as anything more than pretty trinkets anyway. They probably weren't enough to have much bargaining power.

And then it struck him. _Finally, a use for that old thing_, he thought gratefully, and reached into his pack, digging past the canned food and reaching for the very bottom of it.

"What about this?" he asked, pulling the chip of rock Chevron had given him out of his pack and setting it on the counter. The shopkeeper picked it up and squinted at it for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"This?" he guffawed. "It's not even complete!"

"Complete?" Tobias asked, his hopes fading.

"Yeah. You mean you've never seen one of these before? You can find 'em all over the place. Used to be almost everyone had one of 'em. Say, Jack? Could you fetch us one of those funny plaque things?"

The mankey, Jack, obligingly scurried off to a far stack of miscellany and pawed through it, finally pulling out a small stone slab and carrying it back to the counter. He offered it to Tobias, an unmistakable smirk on his piggy face, and then wandered off again.

Tobias ran his fingers across the strange item, squinting at the writing on it. It was, as the shopkeeper had described it, some sort of plaque, like one of those cutesy little wooden decorations that a person in Johto would hang up in their kitchen that read something like "There's no place on earth like Grandma's house." This thing, however, seemed far removed from kitschy décor, a slab of stone unadorned save for some script in the alien unown language. Tobias squinted at it until the strange symbols resolved themselves into recognizable text, and then began to read.

THE SIX PILLARS THAT GUARD OUR LAND

STAND TALL AMONGST THE WORLD'S TEETH

SHOULD EVER WE LET CRUMBLE OUR MORALS, SO

TOO SHALL OUR WORLD.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tobias asked, baffled.

"Dunno," the shopkeeper grunted, holding out his hand for the relic. Tobias gave it to him and the man appraised it for a moment before setting it aside uncaringly. "Seems like almost every house used to have one of these, though. People hung 'em over their doors to ward off evil spirits or something like that. What I gather, it's supposed to be some sort of reminder to people that they're 'obligated' to be all moral and junk or else the world's gonna end, or something ridiculous like that." Returning his gaze to Tobias, the man smiled unpleasantly at him before adding, "Long story short, a little chip like this isn't worth anything. Got anything else to offer, or are you going to be content with how much you've robbed me already?"

Tobias sighed and retrieved the rock from the counter, dropping it back into his pack. It had sentimental value, at least; Chevron would be hurt, although he wouldn't show it, if he knew Tobias had just thrown the thing away. Starting to zip his pack back up, he sighed and said, "No, I guess you can keep the book. I—"

He stopped. The shopkeeper was staring avidly at his backpack again. Something clicked in Tobias's head.

He was buying another pack, anyway, having reluctantly decided that the bright orange of this one was too exotic to pass off as local. Why not get a little more use out of it? "Say, I don't suppose you'd be interested in this bag, would you?" he asked the shopkeeper.

"That ugly thing?" the man scoffed.

Tobias wasn't fooled. "It's waterproof and extremely durable," he said. "I've been using it for years and it's still as good as the day I bought it. And it closes up real well, too, with these zippers. Heck, even if you don't want the rest of the bag, you can cut them off and use them for something else."

"Zippers?" the man responded, his brow furrowed, "What kind of crazy name is that?"

Tobias shrugged. "Take it or leave it. I've got to be going." This was true; he had been in the shop a lot longer than he had expected, and no doubt Accemenla was getting impatient. He hoped she had been able to get rid of Alakazam's pokéball.

The shopkeeper was obviously torn, and Tobias really couldn't blame him. He knew full well that the guidebook, even in its outdated and dog-eared state, was a valuable item, and at the same time he was reluctant to part with his pack, which was not only more spacious but more sturdy and waterproofed than the sad knapsack he'd managed to scrounge up in one of the shop's darker corners.

"All right, fine," the man growled at last. Relieved, Tobias hastily began to transfer items from his bag and into the new pack he'd found. He tried to shield what he was doing from the view of the shopkeeper, but could feel the man's eyes on him, straining to make out what it was that he hastily slipped from one bag to the other. Tobias didn't want the man catching sight of his pokédex or Igneous' pokéball, not to mention all the canned food he'd managed to stuff into his pack. At last he finished and shoved the emptied bag and the matches over to the shopkeeper, who accepted them with a scowl. He continued to scowl as Tobias hurriedly stuffed his new clothes into his pack too, endeavored to close it, failed, gave up, lashed his sleeping back to the outside (he absolutely refused to do away with it, no matter how incongruous it looked), grabbed the boots and coat off the counter, and darted out the door as fast as he could, not even daring to glance back.

Once back outside, he quickly began to relax. There. He had done it. At last he had everything he needed to start his life over again. Setting his new bag down carefully, Tobias bent over and took off his sneakers, tying them to the outside of his bag, too. Stepping into the too-large boots, he did the laces up as tight as he possibly could and was starting to straighten up again when a grim psychic voice rang in his mind.

_And what, exactly, might a piece of Johtoan filth be doing here?_


	34. The Water Temple

**Chapter Thirty-Four: The Water Temple**

Accemenla stalked down the gritty alleyway angrily, tail swishing behind her. The stray growlithe that had been nosing through the rubbish that lined the dank side street glanced eagerly up at the sound of her approach, got a good look at the dark and wrathful expression that contorted her face, and slunk off hastily, ragged tail between his legs. Psychic tension seemed palpable in the air as Accemenla paced back and forth across the narrow alleyway, lost in dark and bitter thought.

Even in her anger, she had remembered to take refuge on one of the main street's narrow offshoots; you never knew who might be watching, after all. Not that the alleys were really that private, but only the truly the powerful had the gall to let their watchers roam the main streets. She could deal with whomever sent their servants to lurk quietly near such an ill-favored road as the one she had left. Once, this quick assessment of risk would have been unconscious, so habitual that it was carried out by instinct. The fact that it had actually given her momentary pause only darkened her mood further; she had been away too long. Too long, and not long enough at all.

Ugh, that _human. _The tarsix let her breath hiss through her teeth and slumped back against the wall of one of the buildings that backed up to the alley, feeling the rough, grimy surface of the bricks through her short fur. Tilting her head back, she closed her eyes, outwardly appearing to relax but clutching the minimized pokéball in her hand all the tighter. She wished that she could just crush it, there and then, and be done with it, but of course it wasn't as easy as all that. At the same time, she dearly wanted to release the creature held inside—for she could feel the faint pulse of life even through the pokéball's metal skin—but knew she could not risk it. It was too dangerous to indulge her curiosity.

The boy could have locked anything away in it, and knowing him, it was almost certainly dangerous. Accemenla opened her eyes, staring blankly up at the patch of blue-gray sky overhead, framed by the dark walls of the alley. The sickly sun that hung within was a harsh reminder of where exactly she was. She was back home, back to walking a dangerous line between treachery and self-preservation. The murky light from above was a balm to her sensitive eyes, offended by the blazing sun of Johto, but not to her soul.

And so he had hemmed her in again. It was almost comical the way the boy blundered through life, unwittingly upsetting carefully laid plans and disrupting the balance of powers that she didn't even believe he was aware of. Probably a sign of the true danger.

For a moment, staring up at the tail end of a puffy, slate-gray cloud that drifted by overhead, she wondered. Was it really necessary?

But the thought was gone in an instant, the tarsix's lips twisting into a snarl as she tore her gaze from the sky and transferred it to the pokéball in her hand. Sentimentality. Weakness. She would do her duty.

This creature, though, she thought, rolling the minimized pokéball between thumb and index finger, this creature had never seen her. It would never suspect.

You can end it now, she chided herself. Stop trying to run. If you stay with him, he will only drag you down with him in the end.

She did not know how long she stood there thinking, mind coldly running over facts and weighing options, treading a circular patch of logic once again. It was probably not long at all; the minds of psychic-types work very quickly. At last, she was resolved.

Tossing the pokéball into the air with a casual flick of her wrist, she caught it neatly with her mind, leaving it to hover in the air near her head. She turned to face the wall that she had been leaning against and stepped back, craning her neck to try to gauge the distance to the roof while flexing both now-free hands absently. Bending her knees, she leapt, a tiny touch of psychic energy sending her soaring impossibly high. Hooked claws found the gutter and shrieked against metal as they sought for purchase, caught the edge and held. Accemenla swung her legs up and clambered over the edge, ignoring the alarming way that the gutter tilted beneath her weight.

She scrambled up to the peak of the roof, claws scrabbling across crumbling roof tiles, and paused for a moment, scanning the area with keen eyes. Spotting what she was after, she started off again, clambering up and down the pitch of roofs and easily leaping the gaps between buildings, the pokéball ever bobbing along in her wake.

Roof, roof, down, up, air, up again, and there they were: two grimy, surly-looking pidgey, huddled at the peak of a roof and absorbed in an argument of some kind. Smirking, Accemenla increased her speed and was soon upon them. The birds, wrapped up in their trivial affairs, saw the tarsix coming too late. One halfheartedly raised his wings as though to attempt a takeoff, but then thought better of it. Accemenla skidded to a halt in front of the pair in a rasp of claws, straddling the roof's peak awkwardly, and picked the left bird at random.

_You! I have a job for you! _she snarled imperiously. The bird looked admirably fearful, though its companion merely gave her a sour, resentful look. Accemenla chose to ignore the slight for the moment and plucked the pokéball from the air where it had been floating near her ear. She held it out to the bird, who shuffled forward warily, bright eyes studying the strange device. _Take this to the one of the southern islands as quickly as you can. Do not stop, do not drop it and, most importantly, do not tamper with it._

For a moment, it looked as though the flying-type might protest. He probably fancied he had something better to do, Accemenla thought with a sneer. Pitiful creature. She leaned in close to him, glaring. _Of course, some most unpleasant people will hear of it if you fail to perform to my satisfaction, _she hissed, and the pidgey's eyes widened with fright. Hastily he reached for the pokéball, and Accemenla shoved it unceremoniously into his talon. In a whir of wings he took to flight, his companion reluctantly following. The pair banked and began winging south at top speed.

Accemenla shifted to a more comfortable position, watching them go with a feeling of satisfaction. It was done, then. And it felt good, too; at last, some pokémon that knew their place. The creatures in Johto had forgotten the natural order of things, but here, in Waytar, you were still shown your proper respect, at least.

She was safe now. Safe, at least, unless the boy did something unreasonably stupid.

Accemenla's contentment faded. That was, she thought grimly, altogether too likely.

* * *

Tobias froze, blood humming in his ears as a wave of panic swept over him. It wasn't possible—there was no way someone could have recognized him! Not this quickly! But nevertheless, there it was.

Feeling a bit resigned, he stood up straight again, eyes sweeping up and down the street in search of whomever it was that had spoken. There was no sign of anyone, however: a few people were bustling past on the street, but no one who seemed to be paying any real attention to him.

"Where are you?" he muttered softly, not sure whether the person was near or far and if they would be able to hear him if he spoke up, anyway. He wasn't sure that he wanted them to hear.

_Right HERE._

And before Tobias could react, something sailed through the air and landed next to him with a dull thud, apparently having dropped out of the sky. He jumped and instinctively started to back away, almost tripping over his too-large boots, until he saw who it was.

"Wait a minute, it's you?"

_I should think so, _Accemenla said, looking at him with a broad, toothy grin. _My, but we're a jumpy one today._

"That _wasn't funny_!"

Accemenla just continued to smile and stood up on her hind legs, brushing a bit of sooty grime from her fur and watching him impudently.

"Where'd you come from, anyway?" Tobias asked.

_Roof, _Accemenla replied, with a vague wave over her shoulder and towards One-Eyed Jack's. _Took you long enough. I must have been waiting up there for a good twenty minutes._

"So you, uh…?"

_Yes. It's done._

Tobias sighed, relaxing a bit. Trust Accemenla to pull something like that. His headache was coming back, throbbing insistently behind his eyes, and he suddenly felt very weary. He pulled his new coat on and fumbled with the buttons on the front while Accemenla watched with amusement.

_You planning to hibernate soon? _she asked. _I mean, it's only October. Last time I saw that coat, it was walking around looking for a den to bunk down in. Don't you think it's a little early for you to be holing up?_

"Oh, be quiet. It's going to get cold here soon, anyway."

_Not _that _cold. _

"It's better than the league jacket, all right? After all, I don't want someone _actually _accusing me of being 'Johtoan filth', now do I?"

_Nobody around here is going to recognize that coat for what it is, _Accemenla said simply. Well, almost nobody, she added to herself. _If it bugs you that much, just lose the jacket._

"I like the jacket," Tobias said defensively, squatting down to try to sort out his pack. Rearranging the cans somewhat, he managed to shoehorn his sneakers in and even wrestle the thing shut. It looked imposingly large and bulgy, especially now that his body was starting to reawaken to the fact that he had just traveled several hundred miles in the space of a couple moments and by very uncomfortable means. Hopefully it wouldn't be long before he could take a break, though. "Say, Accemenla, did you happen to see the Water Temple while you were up there?"

_Yeah, _the tarsix said. _It's kinda hard to miss._

"Do you think you could lead me there? I'm pretty lost right now."

_Probably, _Accemenla said, and to his surprise, Tobias didn't think she sounded very grudging at all.

"Well, you're in a good mood today," he observed, swinging his pack up with a grunt.

Accemenla just shrugged and motioned for him to follow, trotting off down the street. Tobias followed, trying to ignore the way that each step seemed to elicit another stab of pain behind his eyes. The pack already felt unreasonably heavy.

"It's not far to the Temple, is it?" he asked a little plaintively as they reached the end of the street and he followed Accemenla around a corner.

_Oh, I don't know, maybe a half an hour away. Depends on whether we go the long way or the short way, I suppose. And with all the grief you've given me, I'd say the long way is looking more likely._

"Come on…"

_You need to get back in shape, anyway. No more of that cushy Johtoan life for you, is there? If you ever plan to become a master guide, you'd better get used to some serious trekking and not expect a pokémon center to magically spring up for you to stagger into every time you need a break._

Tobias smiled despite himself at the tarsix's playful tone. "Yeah. It's good to be back, isn't it?"

Accemenla turned looked back at him, a funny look in her eyes. _Whatever made you think that? _He couldn't tell if the question was sarcastic or not.

A little put off and suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, Tobias followed after the tarsix in silence. Soon any thought of conversation was put out of his mind by his crushing headache and bone-weariness that seemed to eat to his very core. The city passed in a blur, and Tobias didn't even stop to admire any of its strange wonders, from the several great fountains that sprang up in small squares, depicting great figures of Waytar's past, to the wildly exotic wares being displayed in shops and on streetcorners as they drew nearer the city's heart. Tobias dully shoved past pesky vendors and urchins, his mind a haze of pain and fatigue.

Abruptly they were leaving the town's heart again, and Tobias's splitting head was grateful for the gradually decreasing din and distraction of the city, which was slowly sprawling out into quiet countryside.

Before he realized it, he was slogging up a path paved with broad stepping stones, its sinuous curves leading it around numerous small fish ponds and miniature streams that ran through carefully cultivated gardens. The air was still and serene, the low, steady trickling of water the only sound in the cool, fresh air.

The Water Temple was a long, low building that clung to the earth just as the Fire Temple had reared above it, built of dark, cold stone that displayed the remains of ancient sea creatures locked forever in its grasp. In Johto, such rock would be instantly set upon by eager trainers who recognized each fossil as a slumbering pokémon of ancient power and astronomical value, just waiting to be shipped off to a genetics lab somewhere and resurrected into a top battler. In Waytar, it was simply beautiful.

Not that Tobias was much in the mood for contemplating the place. He could only reflect on the dim memories he had of the Fire Temple, with its warm baths, nice beds, and good food and cajole his unwilling limbs and aching back to let him go a little farther.

Accemenla shoved one of the heavy doors to the temple open with a mental push and scampered in ahead of him. She appeared torn for a minute, then sighed and reluctantly held the door open for Tobias as he stumbled in after her.

The room beyond was dark and cold, and in here as outside the sound of dripping, trickling water filled the air, echoing from the shadowy corners of the room and seeming to come from all directions at once. Sunlight filtered down from small windows set high in the walls, shedding light over tapestries that, as in the Fire Temple, depicted Temple Masters of old and their noble pokémon. Tobias remembered the entry hall to that Temple as being silent and deserted, though of course, he had gotten there in the middle of the night. This room, however, was quite full, primarily with Temple acolytes lounging in the exquisitely carved wooden furniture and enjoying some time off from their numerous duties.

It was one of these that hastily rose and hurried over to Tobias. She was apparently the person currently in charge of welcoming in guides who had come to take the Temple's challenge. The young girl smiled at Tobias and said brightly, "Welcome to the Water Temple. You're here to take a challenge, I presume?" Her smile faded a bit as she allowed her eyes to sweep across Tobias (in the dim light, his attire was not altogether distinct, but the coat gave him a disconcerting bearlike look), but he didn't notice and could only nod dumbly in response to her question.

"All right, then. I, err, assume you'll be wanting to stay overnight and take your challenge tomorrow instead of right now?" she said. Tobias guessed that he looked considerably road-weary, despite having only come from the other side of the city. He tried to remain focused on the acolyte and what she was saying as he gave an affirmative response, but his mind seemed to feel inclined to wander off to places with warm blankets and nice pillows. The headache trampling his brain didn't do much for his concentration, either.

As a result, he missed most of what the acolyte spouted off about meals and scheduling a challenge as she turned and led him away towards a room. He vaguely settled on getting Accemenla to tell him about it later and just dimly followed the blue swirl of the acolyte's robes as she cheerfully pressed on ahead.

It wouldn't have made much of a difference to him if he had been paying attention; the water temple was a labyrinthine place, and even Accemenla's ready mind got thoroughly confused by the maze of corridors and hallways that the trio traversed on their way to what was to be Tobias's room. The tarsix wasn't overly worried about having to find her way, however; surely the temple would be laid out so that guides wouldn't get totally lost on their way to meals or what have you, and if a bumbling human could find their way, well, certainly she would have no trouble.

The acolyte at last stopped in front of a nondescript door and bowed Tobias inside. He missed out on whatever sort of farewell she gave him and muttered what he hoped was an appropriate response, having eyes and mind only for the bed that he could see shoved up against the opposite wall. He managed to shed jacket, coat, boots, and backpack on the way there and, upon reaching it, promptly collapsed and was asleep within moments.

Accemenla, following behind with an expression of amused irritation, leapt up to the bedpost and perched there, coiling her tail tightly around it. She watched Tobias intently for a moment, a footclaw tapping pensively against the wood, and wondered.

Honestly, the boy acted like he'd been on a journey of a thousand miles or something, she thought exasperatedly. This, of course, reminded her of the infuriating fact that she still didn't know what had happened to cause his long stay in the hospital and, perhaps more importantly, how he had come to return to Waytar so quickly. What little information she had managed to glean from the magmar's mind was scattered and incomplete, and the linoone knew even less than that. And of course, she couldn't get into the boy's own head—whatever information was held there was at the moment irretrievable. A frown darkened the tarsix's face.

She watched Tobias a moment more, not that it was exactly an exciting or entertaining pursuit, then shrugged and turned away, unwrapping her tail from the post. The story would come out one way or another, she supposed. She'd just have to be content to wait. In the meantime, the boy wasn't going anywhere for a while, and the acolyte _had _mentioned something about lunch.

The tarsix leapt down from the bed and quietly exited the room, leaving Tobias alone with his rest.

* * *

Tobias awoke rather disoriented and confused, albeit quite comfortable. He simply lay where he was for a few minutes, allowing memories of the day thus far to lazily trickle through his mind and remind him of where he was and why he was there. This determined, he realized that there was really nowhere in particular that he had to go or anything he had to do for a while. In fact, there wasn't much reason at all to not just stay where he was for a while longer, enjoying a few peaceful moments to himself.

Except that he was hungry.

Tobias opened his eyes and raised his head, peering around blearily. He'd ended up sort of sprawled across the entire bed on his stomach, face buried in the coverlet and legs dangling off one side of the bed. Wearily pushing himself up, he winced as his feet touched the cold stone floor but forced himself to stand anyway.

Yawning expansively and stretching, he allowed his eyes to wander around the room as he slowly worked up the initiative to go and do something about getting food. Unsurprisingly, the room was sparsely furnished, though not lacking, with a dressing table at the far wall, as well as a rather old, cracked mirror. Interestingly, water trickled down from a hole in one wall, splashing down across a series of sculpted outcroppings and tumbling at last into a small bowl near the floor and vanishing from sight through another hole. Some sort of fountain-thing, Tobias decided. There must be piping running through the walls, then, to create a sort of fountain system in the various rooms. Tobias didn't really understand the point, but decided it was "atmosphere."

Still, at least this was an indication that the place had running water, as did the Fire Temple, and a quick check did indeed reveal a small bathroom, complete with a tub. Tobias winced at the thought of taking a bath, however; without natural hot springs to provide hot water, he doubted that the endeavor would be very comfortable. Though on second thought, it was probably the last good chance he'd have to bathe for a while if he planned to be setting out on a proper journey again. He didn't know why such normally unappealing thoughts were suddenly illuminated by a spark of excitement. The feeling of wondrous adventure would of course be crushed out of him after several long, weary, smelly days on the road.

Tobias padded back into the main part of his room and sat on his bed, now seriously considering what time it was and what he should do about getting food. The light trickling in through his room's windows, small and set high in the wall, was the yellowish tinge of evening and cast a line of light far towards the opposite wall, indicating that it was late.

Unfortunately, Tobias could remember very little of his trip through the temple, and nothing at all of the careful instructions the acolyte had given him. Another cursory glance around the room confirmed that Accemenla wasn't up and lurking in a corner somewhere, either. Hopefully she had decided to return to her chime and wasn't wandering around the temple by herself somewhere.

To Tobias's immense relief, the tarsix appeared promptly when her chime was rung, yawning and fixing her guide with an irritable eye. _It's a little early for me to be up, _she said pointedly. _I see the sun is still in the sky._

"It's almost dinnertime," Tobias said. "I think. Anyway, I need you to tell me how to get to the dining hall. You do know the way, don't you?"

The tarsix snorted softly. _I had to go and get lunch myself, seeing as you had all the pep and vigor of a rotting log. Yes, I know how to get there. Left after you leave the room, right at the first corridor, right again at the next, and then a left. It's hard to miss. Just follow your nose. _

Before Tobias could thank her, Accemenla had vanished back into her chime in a puff of grayish smoke. He couldn't help but smile as he set her chime aside, however. Whatever the tarsix was willing to admit, she really did seem to be feeling much better now that she was home. There had been that odd moment on the way to the temple, though.

Tobias shook his head slightly as he picked up Jinx's chime. He had been tired and distracted then. Surely he'd only misread what she had said. Even if he hadn't, Accemenla could be strange sometimes. One learned to just put up with it.

Tobias released Jinx and Chevron, both of whom were considerably surprised to find themselves back in their homeland. After Tobias told them where they were, Jinx had fluttered up to peer out of the window, as though not believing what his guide had said, then feigned disinterest and hopped back down to the bedpost. Chevron seemed merely contemplative. The last time he'd been in Waytar, he'd still been a zigzagoon just on the verge of evolution. Tobias wondered if what he felt now was akin to coming back to an old home that you had been away from so long it was nothing but a half-recollected fantasy, a place seen through the eyes of a child.

After allowing a few minutes for nostalgia, still slightly in awe of where he was himself, Tobias rallied his pokémon, and the trio headed out in search of the dining hall. Igneous' pokéball remained behind in the room, still concealed near the bottom of Tobias's new backpack. There weren't any magmar in Waytar, and Tobias felt it would be unwise to go flaunting his exotic friend. He felt guilty for, once again, leaving Igneous out of things, but vowed to bring food back to him and explain everything.

A faint queasy feeling assailed him. Yes, he'd explain everything tonight. He couldn't keep it a secret forever, after all, and it would only get harder to talk about it as time went on. Now was best, before it became some sort of rift between himself and his friends.

They found the dining hall without too much trouble. It was a little early for most people to be eating, and so they had the large, airy room mostly to themselves. Tobias didn't mind, as he had his pokémon for companionship, after all. The food that the temple served was excellent and in good supply. Tobias had some sort of spicy fish dish that was supposedly a Salt Bay specialty, along with some of the coarse biscuits and a plethora of vegetables, some of the last of the bounty of the harvest before everything would be mercilessly canned or dried in preparation for the coming winter. Chevron and Jinx got fish, too, albeit raw. They both seemed quite satisfied, though inwardly they wished that the fish could have been left out in the sun and air for a while in order to ripen properly.

Tobias managed to flag down one of the acolytes bustling around and cleaning up tables and explained that he had a pokémon in his room that was very shy and didn't want to come out to dinner, and could he maybe take some food back with him for it? This was not entirely a lie, he told himself sternly, because after all Igneous was generally a very quiet, secretive pokémon. The acolyte sympathized and helped him make up a plate to take to his pokémon, assuring him that he could just return it in the morning when he came to breakfast. So it was that Tobias returned to his room laden with various plates and dishes, as the acolyte had been very generous in terms of portions, not wanting the "poor, shy little pokémon" to go hungry. Actually, Tobias doubted Igneous would finish everything; not that this was a problem, as Chevron would be happy to clean up whatever was left over when he got hungry later, as he undoubtedly would.

Once back in his room, Tobias sat back down on the bed and set the plate of food down next to him before bending over and pulling his backpack towards him, digging around for Igneous' pokéball. Chevron set off cheerfully to explore their room, and Jinx sat himself on the bedpost again, looking sleepily content.

Finding Igneous' pokéball, Tobias tossed it lightly to the floor, picking up a plate of food again as the fire-type materialized out of a scintillating burst of energy. "Here, Igneous," he said, handing over the meal. The magmar looked at him with confusion, though he was clearly tempted by the food.

"We're back in Waytar now," Tobias explained to him. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be able to let you out in public that much, because they don't have any magmar here and I don't want to attract too much attention. The rest of us went to have dinner, so I brought you back some."

The dead look that Igneous gave Tobias in response was far more hurtful than any outward expression of indignation and anger. "No, Igneous, I don't mean it that way," Tobias said hopelessly. "It's just that I can't be seen around you in public. I'll still let you out plenty when we're not in town and stuff. I don't want to risk somebody realizing what you are, that's all." Well that _does _sound awfully pleasant, Tobias thought woefully, feeling horrible. Almost as soon as the thought had crossed his mind, though, another rose in its place. Why couldn't Igneous just understand? Not everybody was out to get him, after all. What was his problem?

"Listen, I have some stuff I've got to talk to you about," Tobias said, handing a salad bowl over to Igneous. "And all the rest of you, too," he added in a louder voice. Jinx shifted on his perch and glared reproachfully at Tobias, offended by the noise. "Let's just wait until after you have dinner, okay?" the boy tried hopefully. Igneous shrugged noncommittally and seated himself on the stone floor, quietly starting in on his food.

As the magmar ate, Tobias swung his legs up and lay back in bed, fumbling the old guidebook out of his bag and flipping open to a page at random. The next few minutes were quiet and serene, save for a moment of excitement when Chevron, investigating the bathroom, found out that the heavy metal towel bar protruding from the wall was loose while he was using it for support as he tried to peer into the sink. The ruckus caused when the bar gave way and sent Chevron tumbling to floor woke Jinx up and startled him so much that he almost lost his grip on his perch as well, and he gave Chevron a scathing glance as the linoone slunk into the room a moment later, forcedly casual and with his fur puffed up a bit for all that he pretended the incident had never happened.

At last Igneous set aside his food, which was still half-finished and which Chevron watched with a considering eye, and looked pointedly up at Tobias. The boy had been reading a section on medicinal plants, though not really seeing most of the words and absorbing none. With a sigh, he shut the book and swung his legs over the side of the bed, facing his pokémon with some reluctance. He reached for Accemenla's chime in the same motion and rang it.

The tarsix looked much more alert this time as she was let out of captivity; her large eyes went to the fading sunlight streaking the wall and she appeared appreciative. Her gaze then turned to her companions, finally flicking to Tobias as he slid off the bed and sat cross-legged on the perimeter of the ragged circle formed by his pokémon. Chevron stretched out on the cool tile, watching Tobias expectantly, while Jinx lent him a tired, uninterested eye, still perched high above on the bedpost.

"Listen, guys, there's some things I've got to tell you," Tobias said with some reluctance. "About why you had to stay in the pokémon center like that and how we got back to Waytar and stuff." It was an uncomfortable feeling to have his pokémon's eyes on him like this, even more uncomfortable to think that he _shouldn't _be feeling this uneasy in their presence. He was still reluctant to relive the past couple of weeks, though they already seemed strangely distant, separated by who knew how many miles and the Shield; how strange it was to think that that very morning he'd been discharged from the hospital and sent to wander wherever he would.

"Like you know, I went and entered that Lighthouse Challenge thing a couple weeks ago. I was hoping Jinx would get enough experience that he could learn faint attack and take us back to Waytar, right? Well, it turned out that there was…other stuff…going on at the tournament. Team Rocket was using it as a front for one of their scams, trying to steal pokémon and then…" he trailed off, trying to suppress a shudder and not quite making it. "…well, they were killing their trainers, I guess," he said, still almost not quite able to believe it himself, for all that he'd seen it himself, heard it on the news, had it lurking in the back of his mind for all the time that he'd been consciousHe didn't wait to see how the news would affect his pokémon, however, rushing hurriedly on to the story of what had happened inside the lighthouse, rolling over events as quickly as he could, as though by spitting them out so fast he wouldn't have to really think about them, wouldn't have them sitting reflected in the eyes of his listeners, understood and yet not comprehended; he doubted that he could ever do the tale justice enough that anyone would ever really know what it was like.

Still, there was a strange sort of comfort in the rush of words and the vaguest flickers of dark memories in his mind's eye before they vanished, pushed aside as the next was dragged out for brief contemplation. It was as though something was slowly draining out of him along with his breath. Not the horror or the darkness that the past contained, but perhaps the horror that had been surrounding it, keeping it wrapped in its own dark shroud in his mind, ever-threatening and clouding his other thoughts.

His pokémon made it easier for him, too. He realized at some point that he hardly noticed their presence other than the vaguest feeling that they were there; his eyes were unfocused, turned inward as the room dissolved into the sunlight-bathed expanse of the water level of the lighthouse, or the bizarre emptiness of that last fateful level. Only occasionally did he temporarily snap out of his reverie, see the reactions of those he was speaking too. Chevron looked properly horrified and anguished, while Igneous' expression was stolid as ever, his billed face inscrutable as he took in Tobias's words without outward sign of comprehension. Tobias had to smile incongruously one point as he noticed that Jinx had fallen quite unabashedly asleep, head buried under one wing and chest rising and falling in a slow rhythm. Even Accemenla didn't interrupt, her eyes glimmering with the reflected light of Igneous' fiery body as the sunlight slowly ebbed from the room, night creeping upon the listeners and speaker unawares. If anything, she looked the most attentive, not stirring in the slightest as she listened intently.

At last, the worst was over, as Tobias wrapped up the time he had spent at the hospital and moved on to earlier that very morning. "…so that's when I went to get you guys," he said, smiling around at his pokémon. "I missed you a lot, you know. But after I picked you up I didn't really know where to go, until I got an idea that I might know of a way to get back to Waytar."

Here Accemenla shifted slightly, startling Tobias, though he didn't quite know why. The intensity of concentration on her face seemed almost unsettling as he continued his story; he put the matter out of his mind, however, as he so often did with Accemenla. Psychic-types were strange.

At last the tale came to a close. "So then I kinda staggered over here and Accemenla helped me get a room for tonight. Tomorrow we're going to be trying for another medal here, okay? So I guess we should probably get some sleep or something, if we're going to be any good at all tomorrow.

His pokémon took the hint and shifted, stretching and yawning and shaking themselves. None spoke or moved very quickly. They were still contemplating the story, turning it over in their minds and trying to make sense out of the dark tale.

Tobias stood slowly, surprised at how tight and cramped he felt; he hadn't noticed any discomfort as he sat there, relating his story. He felt almost inexplicably cheerful; it was as though some hazy barrier of suspicion that had come between himself and his pokémon had evaporated, returning them to the relative state of peace and mutual friendship that they usually enjoyed.

The uneasiness had almost entirely gone, but there still remained the nagging feeling that he should say something more to Igneous. The fire-type was looking as weary as any and quite ready for a good night's rest, but Tobias approached him anyway. "So you understand a bit now?" he asked anxiously. "I mean, about why I asked you to attack Jenny. I was scared, and I thought I might, well, that I might die," he admitted. Igneous nodded slowly. "Not that it made it right or anything," Tobias added hastily. "But… I just wanted you to know that… I'm sorry, and I won't ever ask you to do something like that again. In fact," he said with a weak smile, "you can go ahead and use a fire punch on me instead."

Igneous might have smiled; his expression changed, at least, but Tobias still wasn't very good at telling what the fire-type was thinking. "So, uh, friends?" Tobias asked, thinking that the phrase sounded even more ridiculous aloud than it did in his head. Nevertheless, when he extended a hand to Igneous, the magmar took it and shook it gravely, his palm almost painfully warm despite the conscious effort that had been taken to reduce his body temperature.

"Mag," the fire-type said quietly, with a gesture that was something like a shrug, as though it were nothing.

The warmth of the magmar's handshake managed to make its way to Tobias's heart somehow, and he grinned broadly. "Thanks, Igneous," he said, not really sure why but feeling that it was the right thing to say. It seemed that the issue was resolved, or at least that Igneous had accepted Tobias's apology. Either way, things were looking up.

To his surprise, only Igneous wanted to retire to his pokéball for the night. Accemenla, of course, was eager to start her nocturnal ramblings and Jinx was already asleep. As Tobias climbed into bed, however, Chevron leapt up next to him, lying down with his head on Tobias's chest as his guide lay back. Tobias scratched the linoone's head gratefully; Chevron clearly felt bad for him and felt like he needed comfort. It was touching, Tobias thought, and reminded him of the days when Chevron was still a zigzagoon, happy to curl up and sleep with his guide. The linoone chirred quietly as Tobias scratched, the sound slowly dying away as Chevron fell asleep, appearing quite content.

Tobias tried to do likewise, comforted by the warm presence of his linoone and at last getting his secrets off his chest, but found that he simply couldn't get his mind to quiet down. Though he'd learned to sleep like a log in strange places while out on his journey, the cold stone walls of the Water Temple seemed even more alien than usual. Tobias reflected that some people supposedly found the sound of gently falling water soothing, whereas he thought it distracting and annoying; his room's fountain was driving him nuts, and he doubted there was any way for him to turn it off.

He lay in bed, helplessly looking up at the ceiling, his gaze occasionally wandering around the room to take in the glistening motes of moonlight that now stretched luxuriously across the floor or the dark shape of Jinx on the far end of the bed. Accemenla had gone, disappearing into the temple proper in pursuit of whatever entertainment she could find.

It was probably the fact that he'd more or less slept the afternoon away, Tobias thought irritably. Of course he couldn't fall asleep now; he wasn't tired. There was something more than that, though. He didn't want to admit it even to himself, but it ran as an underscore to his restless thoughts, always lurking behind whatever his mind was busying itself with at the moment.

While he was away in Johto, he'd been very homesick at first. After the initial shock had worn off, however, it became an abstracted, almost wistful feeling. The extreme distance between himself and his home had made the separation easier, in the end; he knew that there was no way for him to go back. Home could hold no real power over him, as it lay so far beyond his reach that it was not even worth fantasizing about. Forced to accept the way things were, he soon forgot about his nostalgia, save for the occasional wistful moment when he'd remember something his mother had said to him or caught the sudden flash of a memory of himself playing with Kevin. The feeling was wrapped up in the general longing to be back in Waytar, and troubled him no more than that.

Now, though. Now he was so close. He could go home now if he really wanted to, he realized. It would take him a while to get back to Firstseed, especially around this time of the year, but it was actually within his reach once again.

But what would he have to go back to? His family probably thought he was dead, by now, or barring that, some kind of horrible criminal. He closed his eyes, trying to turn his mind to some other matter. The thought was painful, a burning combination of guilt and regret settling in his chest as it rattled around his mind. Surely they couldn't really believe that, though? They knew he wasn't a bad person. No, surely they couldn't believe that of him. Though his attempts at redirecting his thoughts were unsuccessful, he was soon freed of them by a slight rustling sound from the far end of the bed, a welcome distraction.

Jinx was awake, looking clear-eyed and altogether too alert. He hadn't been asleep, Tobias realized, and wondered how long the murkrow had been feigning slumber. Jinx stretched his wings for a moment, moonlight gleaming darkly across his feathers, and then folded them again, glancing towards Tobias, who immediately pretended to be asleep himself, watching Jinx through slitted eyes. He felt a little guilty for trying to deceive his pokémon, but he was intrigued; Jinx was acting strangely, a little too furtive and a little too uncertain, and Tobias wanted to know what was up.

Surely Jinx wasn't fooled, Tobias thought; he knew he didn't exactly look like he was asleep, and he hadn't been pretending at all up until now, and if Jinx was awake earlier surely he would know that Tobias hadn't gotten to sleep yet, either.

But the murkrow appeared satisfied and turned away again, leaping off the bedpost and flapping quietly up to one of the windows. There were faint rasping noises and finally a metallic click as Jinx unlatched it and quietly pushed it open. For a moment he simply sat on the narrow window ledge, a ragged shape silhouetted by the intense moonlight. He then shot another quick glance back at his guide, spread his wings, and disappeared into the night.


	35. Old Ambitions

**Chapter Thirty-Five: Old Ambitions**

Jinx pushed off from the window ledge, soaring into the night beyond. The cold air outside the temple washed over him as though he had dived into deep, dark waters, its touch invigorating. His wings caught the frigid night breeze and sent him floating through the air, his lungs burning with each freezing breath and his exhalations streaming out behind him as wispy clouds of vapor. It was one of those nights when humans burrowed deeper beneath their stifling warm blankets and when murkrow were glad to be alive.

Already scanning the ground for something of interest, Jinx caught sight of a glimmer of reflected silver in one of the fountains far below and swooped down, landing neatly on its wide stone brim and peering intently at the ripply rendition of the moon floating across the surface of the water.

He threw his head back and looked up at the real thing. The moon was a lot more lonely here, without all of those other sparkly lights—stars, he thought they were called—to accompany it. Jinx could make out faint dots in the night sky, slight discolorations in the uniform black sheet that cloaked the world, but these were the only sign that any such wonders actually existed, their true light screened out by the shield. You would never know they were there unless you were looking for them already.

Jinx considered this to be a good thing. The stars had always maddened him; they were so beautiful, and yet so cruelly out of reach. Where they lived the air was colder even than in the dead of winter and your lungs seemed hard-pressed to drag sustenance from it. It made your head go a little woozy. Jinx had tried to reach them, and no matter how high he had flown, the stars had never seemed any closer.

But there was something ugly about the night sky here, he thought. The moon was pale and weak, even on nights like tonight, where it was nothing more than a slitted eye watching from on high. Even if the shiny was unobtainable, he decided, it made the world seem more complete.

Jinx took off again in a whir of wings, feeling agitated and unable to pinpoint why. He couldn't even say why he had come out here tonight, except that he had felt the need to get away. Surely it couldn't have been because of the boy's story. Of course the tale had been mildly unpleasant, but Jinx had never taken much interest in the troubles of others. He didn't really care.

He didn't care that he was home, either. It was an odd word that the humans seemed fond of, Jinx thought as he winged across the city. But like everything else that they were fond of, it had all those funny emotions attached to it. Peace and comfort and memories and—what was it again?—love. He understood that it often had something to do with "family" as well, whatever that was.

Still, he couldn't totally deny that he was somewhat glad to be back. Johto was all right for a little while, and it certainly had more shiny things than any other place he'd ever visited, but you started to get tired of all the people and pokémon. Jinx preferred somewhere much less crowded. And there was no reason other than that.

Yes, the cities in Johto were certainly interesting, with their lights gleaming at all hours of the night and all the shiny stuff lying discarded carelessly on the street and free for the taking (though Jinx had found Tobias to have poor taste when it came to this, usually confiscating it and tossing it in the trash), not to mention all the other murkrow that stalked the streets. Jinx thought that it was more interesting to have to go out of your way to find adventure rather than to have it handed to you. And in Johto, adventure seemed too often to lead right into being chased away by one of those not-fun humans, the ones that showed up just whenever you had liberated something particularly shiny or played an especially good prank on someone. And while he'd heard that the not-fun humans took humans away and put them in big human-sized cages, which he'd dearly love to see, he hadn't fancied being caught by one all that much.

Salt Bay was far from dead, of course. Even at this hour, the bars and taverns were loud and boisterous, and the occasional mysterious figure slipped by on the street below. And it certainly wasn't lonely (another silly human word), with a few other murkrow out and about. Jinx had just gotten tired of all the hustle and bustle of Johto, that was all. Of course he mildly appreciated being back in Waytar.

Any further philosophical musings were cut short when Jinx saw a gleam in a gutter and dove to investigate, which led inevitably to a sojourn in a blacksmith's shop (Jinx had never before realized how convenient it was that so many homes in Waytar lacked glass in their windows) and from there on to a romp down a deserted alley in the company of some rather rude guard-growlithe. The murkrow's worries fell away with the ragged feathers that he shed while fluttering back and forth across the city, mind distracted from his feelings by the ever-present glimmer of adventure and his eyes turned away from inner conflicts and once again to the eternally exciting world, just as Jinx had planned—though of course he would never admit to himself the real purpose of his late-night jaunt.

It was several hours later that Jinx, burdened with a particularly fine silver butter knife, caught sight of it. He was shooting gaily down a small side street, on the watch for a suitable place to stash his new find and flying a bit laboriously due to the weight of the knife, when the glint of light off metal caught his eye. Deciding that he could probably carry another piece of booty, and could always leave the knife behind if he found something more interesting, Jinx slowed, banking over to inspect this latest distraction.

Landing on the cobbled street with a clatter of silver on stone, Jinx transferred the butter knife from his claws to his beak and sidled cautiously towards the source of the glimmer. An errant moonbeam stabbed down into a shadowy alcove, illuminating the silver locket strung around the neck of a slumbering girl. Moving as silently as possible, Jinx went closer, eyes lighting up as he inspected the piece of jewelry up close. He couldn't see much of it, as the girl was clutching the locket as if for comfort, though her hand had relaxed a bit in slumber and now lay half-open, exposing a bit of the piece to the light.

Jinx almost unconsciously set the butter knife on the ground, already having forgotten about it in the face of this much more interesting find. It would be difficult, he thought, getting the locket without the girl awakening, and excitement stirred in his chest at the thought of such a challenge. Extending a wing, he carefully directed a small tendril of dark power towards the locket, the caustic energy eating neatly through the grubby bit of string holding it around the girl's neck. Jinx kept careful control of the minimized pursuit attack, using it to pull the prize back towards him. It slipped easily through the girl's nerveless fingers and floated quietly back to the awaiting murkrow. Once it was within striking distance, Jinx eagerly released the pursuit, allowing the piece of jewelry to drop to the street before him. After a few minutes of struggling with his talons, which were really not designed for such purposes, he managed to prise the locket open.

Unfortunately, the inside was not nearly as interesting as the outside. Just some picture of a human guy, Jinx thought with disappointment. It wasn't even one of the real-pictures, like they had in Johto, but the old scribble-scratch kind that humans did by hand. A little disappointed, but nevertheless feeling pleased with himself, Jinx closed the locket again and reached down, gathering up both ends of the string in his beak and preparing to take to flight.

For some reason, though, he just couldn't convince his wings to open. Turning around, Jinx glared at the human girl. Was she somehow trying to keep him from rescuing the locket from her? Because obviously it was unhappy to be with her—surely it deserved better than to hang next to those old, raggedy clothes she had on. Even for Waytar, Jinx thought disapprovingly, they looked a bit scruffy. He would take it off to someplace safe where it could stay with all the other shiny treasures he had found; it would be in good company.

And it was so irresponsible of her, Jinx thought, to be holding on to something as nice as this right out in the open. Most humans had the sense to sleep inside where they wouldn't have to worry about nighttime prowlers (not that Jinx had any difficulty entering their dwellings, anyway), and it was, after all, a fairly cold night. Jinx knew that humans didn't like the cold much.

Come to think of it, what would she be doing with something this nice in the first place? Usually when humans looked that careworn, they would trade in a bit of their shiny stuff for some new clothes. Terrible waste of good shiny stuff though it was, and though the locket hanging from his beak wasn't normally what humans exchanged between themselves, it was still a treasure and certainly would get the girl some nice clothes, and maybe something else besides.

Why had she been clutching it close like that? Surely it could mean nothing to her. But it was so like humans to give meaning to the strangest things…

But why did he even care? Jinx contemptuously spread his wings. It was no different than always. He was feeling irritable, as though he had remembered something he'd tried to forget. That was ridiculous, of course—memories were nothing but records of the past, so why would one bother to destroy them?

But still his wings refused to carry him into the air, and he remained frozen in place, watching the gentle rise of steam from the girl's mouth as she slept on, shuddering slightly with the cold. It was no different than always!

There was no reason he should be reluctant to take the locket—not that he was, of course, he just thought he'd like to rest a bit longer after his long flight and after carrying the knife. Home was no different than anywhere else. But it wasn't home, really, just another place. He didn't care; places were places, and one was as good as another, mostly.

It was no different, no different than always. _He _was no different than always. Tired, yes, he was just tired, should be going back to the temple now… but still his wings refused to carry him away.

No reason to give the locket back, it was just another treasure. It belonged to him now, didn't it? She wouldn't care—why should he care if she cared? He didn't care, didn't care what had happened, what had almost happened. He didn't care about the boy, didn't care about what the boy felt, didn't care what had happened—now why had he thought that?

Jinx remained there, just watching, trying to shake the disturbing thoughts until the sun began to drag itself reluctantly over the horizon. As the first light crawled grey-pink over the horizon and reflected off Jinx's red eyes, the murkrow at last stirred. With a contemptuous flick of his head, he tossed the locket carelessly into the girl's lap and took off in a flurry of wingbeats, flying slowly and casually back to the Temple.

He was so flustered that he forgot the knife entirely, leaving it lying on the cobblestones, the bloodred light of sunrise reflected along its mirrored blade.

* * *

Sunrise came to the temple, too, and though the light of the Waytaran dawn was not as bright as that of Johto, it was nevertheless irritating and insistent. Tobias tried to turn over to bury his head in the pillow and shut out the light so he could sleep a little longer, but the heavy bulk of Chevron lying partially atop his stomach prevented him from doing so. Frowning and keeping his eyes tightly shut, Tobias tried to sink back to sleep, but to no avail. His mind was slowly awakening, already wearily gathering up what he would have to do today. He needed to give Chevron another bath, that was for sure—being this close to the linoone reinforced that observation quite eloquently. Come to think of it, he could probably use a bath, too. And he'd have to try to find out what Jinx had been up to, and there was the temple battle to consider.

Tobias groaned aloud. The temple battle! He'd probably better get out of bed, then; there was no telling when he'd have to go do that, and he didn't want to get caught still asleep when the acolyte came to get him. What time was it, anyway? How much sleep had he gotten in the end?

Not much, he decided as he reluctantly opened his eyes and sat up in bed. He felt groggy and cranky. Every part of his body seemed to be imploring him to go back to sleep right then and there, but he knew it was futile. He was too awake already, however reluctantly.

Chevron yawned and stretched, leaping over Tobias and off the bed entirely, looking quite cheerful, Tobias noticed resentfully. And Jinx was back on the bedpost, slumbering on as innocently as ever. Tobias frowned, but decided he'd deal with that problem later. For the moment, his best bet was probably to stagger down to the mess hall and see if he could get something to eat.

He reluctantly slid out of bed, wincing when his bare feet met the chill stone tiles, and stretched a bit before digging something to wear out of his pack and throwing it on. Feeling only mildly warmer, he scooped up the plates left over from Igneous' dinner the previous night and, beckoning Chevron to follow, left for the mess hall. Jinx and Accemenla would probably not appreciate being disturbed, and he'd be bringing back more food for Igneous anyway, which they could undoubtedly share if they got hungry before lunchtime.

Fortunately, the breakfast served was warm and substantial, and Tobias returned to his room later feeling a great deal better. Letting Jinx sleep on, he released Igneous and gave him his breakfast before promptly wandering out into the hallway again, Chevron trotting after him, in search of the head acolyte so he could ask about scheduling a challenge.

After stopping a few blue-clad teens in the hall and asking for directions, he at last found himself back in the temple's reception area. The bored-looking young woman behind the desk flipped open a heavy book at his request for a challenge, leafing through until she found the correct date.

"We're pretty open," she said dryly, a brief glance up at the silent ranks of unoccupied tables and benches that filled the empty foyer underscoring her words. "Master Shatterglass starts taking challenges at one in the afternoon and stops at five-thirty, just before dinner. Pick any time you want."

"How about one thirty?" Tobias asked. There wouldn't be any point in taking one of the later challenges if he didn't have to, as it wasn't like he was going to get any training in between now and his battle, but he would have felt odd asking for the first available time, for some reason. "I'd like to stay here another night, if that's possible."

The acolyte nodded and waved her quill pen dismissively in response to his second request, already focused on her appointment book. "Name?" she asked mechanically.

"Thomas Goldspur," Tobias replied without pause. It had gotten much easier to say the name by now; sometimes he almost forgot that it wasn't his real one.

Pen darting across the page before her, the acolyte continued, "Any medals?"

"One from the Fire Temple," Tobias replied, hoping that she wasn't going to make him produce it for confirmation. He'd left it back in his room and didn't relish another long trip through the temple's confusing corridors just to retrieve it. The receptionist glanced up briefly, squinting at him with slight suspicion. Tobias felt himself blushing slightly; for someone his who was still traveling around as a general guide, it would be expected for him to have earned at least a couple more medals by this point. After a moment, the acolyte shrugged and made a mark next to his name, and Tobias could almost see her mentally stamping him a mediocre talent.

"Room number?"

"Err, twenty-one," Tobias said, hoping he'd remembered correctly.

"Right, then," the receptionist said briskly, slamming her appointment book shut again with a boom that echoed satisfyingly in the empty entry hall. "An acolyte'll be along to get you at about one. Make sure your pokémon are ready to go by then. Good luck."

After that, there was really nothing else for it but to head back and find something to wile away the hours. Jinx was _still _asleep when he got back, and Tobias gave the murkrow an irritated glance before flopping onto his bed. Apparently, whatever late-night adventures Jinx had managed to get into had taken quite a toll on him. Tobias could only hope that he would be sufficiently awake to battle later on in the day.

Time seemed to pass in a restless blur. Chevron slipped out into the hallway again and set off to roam around, making no indication that he had heard Tobias's request that he be back in time for the battle. Tobias shouldn't have worried, however; Chevron showed up just in time to accompany his guide to lunch, after which the pair returned to find Jinx miraculously awake.

"Had a busy night, have you?" Tobias asked by way of greeting as the murkrow turned at the sound of his entry, looking away from the window. The dark-type was perched on the sill, and had apparently been staring out at the chilly cityscape beyond. Jinx's eyes were more bloodshot than normal, and he seemed to exude an aura of foul temper, his feathers fluffed out a bit against the slightly cold air of the room and his posture hunched and resentful. Ordinarily, Tobias would have had the sense to leave Jinx alone and let him stew by himself for a while until he felt better, but today he was feeling grumpy himself and a little hurt by Jinx's apparent reluctance to tell him what he had been up to.

The murkrow had already turned back to the window, refusing to accept the premise of Tobias's question and feigning disinterest. Catching the mood, Chevron appeared to shrink a bit, slinking as quietly as he could across the floor and under the bed, where he apparently hoped that he wouldn't be noticed. Guilt nagged at Tobias's consciousness—it wasn't fair that he should be making Chevron anxious like this—but something compelled him to continue, unwilling to let Jinx off so easily.

Throwing himself down on the bed, Tobias glared up at Jinx's silhouette before the windowpane and said bitterly, "You know, if there's some reason you feel like you don't want to hang around with me, just say so and you can be on your way. Goodness knows you've got me into enough trouble as it is. If you want to go out and be by yourself, at least tell me or something."

Jinx muttered something and ruffled his feathers, not turning to face his guide.

Tobias didn't know why he was getting so worked up over this, really. He knew that Accemenla was always out roaming around during the night, and Jinx undoubtedly had his own little errands that he attended to. For some reason, though, the situation felt wrong. It was not an easy feeling to pinpoint, and at the moment it was not something he felt like going to the trouble to do. For the moment, he merely plunged ahead uncaringly, fuelled by his ill humor. "Where did you go?" he asked.

Jinx made a small shrugging motion, but still did not face Tobias. "What, it's some kind of secret? You're being real strange about this, Jinx. What are you trying to hide? Just tell me!"

Now Jinx turned around, and Tobias could see that he wore an expression at least as irritable as his guide's. Some part of his mind warned him to turn back and not push the issue any further, but he ignored it. He was going to finish this, get to the bottom of it. "Well?" he snarled, not understanding why he was suddenly angry.

Jinx hissed and snapped his beak at him, his crest starting to rise and his body language warning Tobias against pushing him any further. Tobias was worked up by this point, however. "What is it that you can't tell me? I'm your guide, remember? We're supposed to be close, or something. What are you hiding?" He was almost yelling now, but Jinx didn't even flinch.

Instead, he snapped his wings open in an expression of exasperation, screeching "Krow murkrow!" and looking positively livid. _You wouldn't understand!_

"Of course I would!" Tobias yelled back, glaring at Jinx for half a second before his expression turned to one of shock and confusion. The murkrow himself fell silent as well, staring back at Tobias with wide eyes. Chevron, still huddled beneath the bed, took his paws away from his face and raised his head hopefully, wondering if the argument was over.

Tobias sat back on the bed a bit, his gaze moving blankly to an empty section of wall as his mind whirled with confusion. He thought he was pretty good at understanding his pokémon. Usually, he got the gist of what they were trying to say, at least, though there were frustrating times when he just couldn't seem to pick up on what they were getting at. He could never piece together their messages word-for-word, though, even when they were taking pains to be as obvious as possible, to the point of clumsy charades. That time, though, it was as though Jinx had screamed at him in English. _You wouldn't understand! _Too right; he certainly didn't.

Jinx had turned back to the window, his figure even more hunched than before. After a while, Tobias rooted his new guidebook out of his pack and lay back on the bed, looking up information on ottical, the kind of pokémon that Ottie was. Chevron slipped out from under the bed and rested his head on top of the covers next to Tobias, making soothing noises as Tobias absently stroked him.

It was in this manner that the acolyte found them when he came to retrieve Tobias for his battle. He waited patiently as Tobias let out Accemenla, who gave him less grief than usual for disturbing her rest, and recall Jinx, who made it clear that he wouldn't be budged any other way, then quietly led the way through the twisting corridors of the water temple, taking them to a section of the place to which Tobias hadn't been before. The sameness of the hallways was frustrating, each distinguishable only by the occasional painting or tapestry on the wall and the small numbers carved into the doors of each room. Tobias got the feeling that he'd have to live here for months before being able to find his way around without aid.

His bitterness was cut short when the acolyte stopped abruptly, presenting him with a blank, nondescript door, and ushered him inside.

Tobias found himself alone at one end of a small, shallow pool, marked off like an arena and with a couple of floating wooden platforms drifting slowly across its surface as the acolyte closed the door behind him. There was another door on the opposite side of the room, but for the moment it remained closed, his opponent not yet present. Apprehensive and yet strangely bored, Tobias let his eyes wander around the humble battle room. It was the first that he's seen in the temple that didn't have any windows. The flickering light of the lamps affixed to the walls was reflected in the rippling surface of the water.

All was silent, save the perpetual sound of running water that filled every room of the temple, though even that seemed hushed here, as though it, too, waited with bated breath for what would happen next.

The door opened.

A young acolyte stepped in, rather gangly in too-large blue robes that ballooned out around his skinny legs. He was accompanied by an ottical, just as sprightly as Ottie, Tobias thought with a smile. The little water-type yipped excitedly and almost got tangled in her guide's legs before he managed to shoo her into the pool. She dove in smoothly, leaving hardly a ripple, but then burst back up to the surface and started splashing her guide with obvious enthusiasm. Despite his awkward appearance and the antics of his pokémon, though, the boy didn't appear overly afraid as he took up a spot at the other end of the pool. "I will be your first challenge," he intoned, the words ringing in Tobias's memory. It seemed so long ago that he'd heard them before in the Fire Temple. "Choose your pokémon," the boy continued, and Tobias did so.

"You remember how this works, don't you, Chevron?" he asked the linoone, who nodded and eagerly started forward, leaping from the pool deck to the nearest floating platform, which temporarily submerged beneath his weight before stabilizing. "All right, Chevron, I think we're going to have to get a little wet, here. Dive in there and use fury swipes."

Chevron didn't hesitate to slip off the platform and into the water. The linoone could swim, albeit not terribly well. He dogpaddled awkwardly towards the ottical, giving its guide plenty of time to respond.

"Charm, Ottical." The little water-type pokémon actual swam towards Chevron, making little churring noises as she went and putting on the most forlorn expression possible. Chevron hesitated, looking into his opponent's large, dark eyes, which seemed to implore him not to hurt her.

"Come on, Chevron, fury swipes," Tobias said irritably. His linoone didn't listen, though, allowing the ottical to draw closer, still keeping up her sweet and innocent routine. She was within half a foot of him before giving a quick, mischievous smile and letting loose a water gun straight in his face. Then, with a flick of her tail, she dived underwater, leaving Chevron to splutter and gag for a few moments, his stroke faltering, before he, too, dived, murder in his eyes as he sought out his tricksy opponent.

Both Tobias and his opponent stepped up to the very edge of the pool, craning their necks to try and get a look at what was happening underwater. Just at that moment, however, both pokémon exploded back to the surface, the water roiling furiously around them as they exchanged blows.

Chevron hissed and lashed out with his claws, awkwardly trying to strike while still keeping himself afloat. The ottical slapped him in the face with her tail, then lunged forward and attacked with her own small claws while her larger opponent was stunned. Chevron thrashed around wildly, trying to shake the clinging water-type from his face and reaching vainly with his claws. Despite his best efforts, however, the ottical always seemed one step ahead of him, ready to slip away at the last moment and leave him to strike at nothing but empty water.

Tobias was rapidly growing anxious. The ottical was an aquatic creature by nature, and small and quick enough to literally swim circles around Chevron. His pokémon was getting more tired by the minute, and unless Tobias did something soon, he might just lose when Chevron gave in to pure exhaustion.

"Come on, Chevron, you have to get it out of the water," he said urgently. "Just grab it or something."

Summoning up still more of his fading strength, the linoone redoubled his efforts to catch hold of the darting ottical. The slippery creature seemed to delight in this, staying carefully out of reach of Chevron's slashing claws and teeth, occasionally blasting him with a water gun to keep him riled.

Finally, a frantic lunge took the creature by surprise and its dodge wasn't fast enough. Chevron's teeth sank into its long, sinuous tail, and no matter how the ottical writhed, it couldn't break free. Grimly, Chevron started to paddle towards the nearest floating platform, towing the struggling ottical behind him. The going was tough as the water-type tried with all its might to swim in the opposite direction, but Chevron was relentless, pouring all his strength into just creeping forward through the water.

At last he managed to catch the floating platform with his paws, hauling himself gratefully onto the solid refuge and seeming unperturbed by the way it sank beneath his weight. With a flick of his neck, he tugged the ottical out of the water and slammed her onto the wooden platform.

Almost immediately she started to struggle to get back in the water, but now Chevron had the advantage. Pinning her with one paw and letting his weight do most of the work of keeping her in place, he started slashing away at the helpless water-type with his other forepaw, so quick with his fury swipes that the appendage seemed hardly more than a blur.

The ottical's trainer, beginning to become desperate, started shrieking whatever command came to mind, hands clenched into fists and his whole body seeming to vibrate with anxiety. His pokémon squirmed and twisted, managing to free her tail from Chevron's teeth and then starting to beat the linoone over the head with it. Tobias, meanwhile, simply cheered Chevron on, knowing that, with the ottical out of its element, the battle should be over quickly. Already, blood mingled with the water sloshing over the edge of the overburdened platform, and the ottical's thrashing was starting to weaken.

Chevron grimly leaned on the ottical as she writhed, enduring water guns to the face and scratches at all of his body that was in reach, calmly dealing slash after slash to his diminutive opponent. He knew that he would win, too.

At last, Chevron's grasp on the ottical finally weakened, the bloodied water-type dissolving away into a cloud of grey mist that was sucked back into the acolyte's chime. The boy somehow managed to look livid and dejected at the same time, and said in a strangled voice, "Very well, then. Victory is yours. Wait here while I go and fetch your next challenge."

Flouncing around, he vanished back the way he had come in a whirl of blue robes. Chevron turned and grinned at Tobias, clearly very proud of himself, if obviously unhappy with his drenched state. He then jumped from the platform to the side of the pool and came around to his guide's side again, leaving a trail of water behind. "Great work, Chevron," Tobias said, stifling a laugh as the linoone stopped and shook himself mightily, flinging water in all directions. "Why don't you sit the next one out, all right? You don't seem to like the water much."

Grateful for an excuse to rest, Chevron nodded and trotted over to the corner where his teammates were waiting, flopping himself down with a sigh, content to simply watch and drip in peace.

The next acolyte wasn't long in coming, and for some reason, Tobias got the strange feeling that he'd seen the boy before. He was tall and quite friendly-looking, sporting a large grin even as he looked across the pool at his opponent, a few curly strands of red hair falling in front of his sparkling green eyes. For just a moment, though, his smile faltered, and Tobias knew that something had struck the other boy as well. Well, this fight would give him a lot of time to ponder where he might have seen the boy before, at least, if it was in the same style as the second he'd fought at the Fire Temple.

"I am your second challenge," the boy announced, stepping up to the far side of the pool. "As you know, the purpose of guiding is not to earn personal glory, but to let your pokémon grow until their full potential is realized. For this battle, our pokémon will fight without direction from their guides, so that their personal strength can be realized. This will be a two-on-two match."

With that, he reached to the belt strapped loosely around his blue robes and pulled off a chime. Ringing it confidently, he watched as the mist that it released drifted down into the pool and formed up into another aquatic pokémon. Tobias had the brief impression of massive, almost translucent red eyes before the creature slipped beneath the water and out of his sight.

"Accemenla?" he called, without turning around.

_It would be a pleasure, _the tarsix replied, bounding out from behind him, a sneer in her telepathic voice. Tobias wished he could see the pokémon better so he could at least tell what it was, but Accemenla seemed quite confident. She sprang lightly from the edge of the pool onto the floating platform in front of her guide, crouching on all fours. She was light enough that the wooden plank remained floating gently on the surface of the water, rather than wallowing as it had when Chevron got on. Tobias had the distinct impression that Accemenla was going to try to show off by going the whole battle without even getting wet.

Seeing both pokémon in position, the acolyte announced, "Let the match commence."

The last syllable had barely passed his lips before Accemenla's eyes flared blue with psychic energy, and a bolt of distortion rushed through the air, water shooting in all directions as the attack struck the surface of the pool. Almost immediately Accemenla followed it up with another psybeam, and then another. Tobias couldn't tell if they hit the other pokémon, but was puzzled all the same. Accemenla wasn't normally one to just blast her way through with the same attack over and over again.

As the tarsix kept hammering away with the psychic assault, the surface of the water roiled and a madly thrashing pokémon burst up out of the depths, flailing wildly with two long, spindly arms. Wait, not arms, Tobias realized: tentacles. And what he had thought were eyes earlier were actually just two fluid-filled sacs in what he now recognized as the bulbous head of a tentacool.

Well, that explained it. Accemenla was just trying to get rid of the thing as quickly as she could. She probably didn't expect that she would need any tricky moves to get past it. It was a poison-type, after all, and quite weak to her psychic assaults.

The tentacool was clearly flagging already, though it continued to make halfhearted and generally unsuccessful attempts to dodge the psybeam barrage. Its guide looked extremely frustrated; his pokémon wasn't even getting a chance to slip an attack in edgewise. Accemenla seemed to be enjoying herself and apparently had the situation well in hand, so Tobias took a moment to study his opponent. How could he possibly know someone who was an apprentice at the Water Temple? Maybe some trainer he'd met on the road before leaving Waytar? But that didn't seem to be it, and much as he tried to dismiss his gut feeling as ridiculous, familiarity continued to nag at him whenever he looked at the other boy's face.

His eyes were brought back to the battle as the tentacool suddenly stopped moving. Tobias wondered if it might have given up at last, but Accemenla didn't even pause in her assault. The tentacool took another psybeam to the face with obvious difficulty. It was in terrible shape. Though the psybeams didn't really rip up the creature's thin, membranous skin, they did leave ugly welts, some of which oozed a clear, pus-like fluid that glistened stickily in the flickering lamplight. Nevertheless, it appeared to still be in the game. Tobias had no idea what it was doing, but the great gel-filled sacs on its head seemed to ripple, vibrating with some sort of pulse. Accemenla paused for the first time, not following up with an immediate psybeam as usual. A second later she hissed, pressing her ears back against her head and covering them with her paws.

Tobias still had no clue what was going on. Accemenla's fur bristled and she snarled, face contorting with pain and body curling into a half-crouch as she clutched at her sensitive ears. Behind him, there was a low whimper and Tobias glanced back to see Chevron covering his ears as well. After a moment, it came to him. Of course—supersonic. The attack was too high-pitched for him to hear, but now that he had identified it, he could swear he felt his eardrums tingling a bit.

The attack ceased as quickly as it began, with Accemenla relaxing gratefully. By now the psychic light had ebbed from her eyes, and Tobias could see that they looked blurry and unfocused. Accemenla swayed slightly and kept shaking her head back and forth, as though her ears were still bothering her. While she faltered, the battered tentacool advanced, and Tobias watched it nervously.

Accemenla seemed oblivious to the tentacool's slender tentacles as they reached for her, but then jerked back to attention as it suddenly whipped them around one leg in a crushing grip. The tentacool dived again, pulling Accemenla's leg out from under her and causing her to overbalance and take a hard fall. She sunk her fingernails into the wood beneath her and let out a screech of indignation. She clawed at the tentacool's slender tentacles with he free foot, slicing them open wickedly and causing more of that clear goo to ooze all over her foot while simultaneously starting another psybeam barrage. Unfortunately, her current position didn't allow her to aim the attacks down into the water very well, and her confusion was clearly affecting her aim. One psybeam caused the opposing acolyte to hastily step aside as the rippling distortion in the air whizzed right past him. On second thought, Tobias decided, maybe that wasn't an accident, after all.

Whatever the case, Accemenla changed tactics quickly. Though her eyes continued to glow blue, she didn't let off any more psybeams, instead using a confusion attack to pull the tentacool up from the water. It struggled weakly in her grasp, but though Accemenla faltered several times, her confused state making it hard for her to concentrate, Tobias could tell it was probably too far gone to escape. And indeed, after Accemenla clumsily banged the creature against the platform next to her a couple times, its tentacles fell limply from her leg and its eyes rolled back.

The opposing acolyte recalled his pokémon with a frown on his face, but the smoke of its passing had barely cleared before another note rang out and his next pokémon appeared to replace its fallen comrade.

Tobias knew instantly what lineage this pokémon belonged to. Everything about it seemed to be just a transition between blubble and slipstri, from the end-to-end diamond pattern that ran down its spine and would someday become the ragged, scaly ridge of a slipstri, to the impressive, swept-back plumes that adorned its head, still as feathery as blubble's but clearly growing into the wicked horns of its fiercer final form.

"Accemenla, why don't you take a break?" Tobias called. "Jinx can take care of this one, and then you can get back in there if you need to."

_No, _Accemenla said. _I'm…fine…_She swayed rather precariously on her feet, eyes still out of focus, but Tobias supposed that this was her fight. He wished he was allowed to command her at least a little bit; normally, guides could try to snap their pokémon out of confusion by calling their names or shouting other encouragement or directions, but here that wasn't allowed. It was up to Accemenla to recover on her own.

Seeing that Tobias was making no move to recall his pokémon, the acolyte cried out, "Let the match begin."

This time, it was the opposing pokemon that was on the ball and got in the first attack. Opening its long jaws wide, it unleashed a blast of concentrated bubbles that struck Accemenla with surprising force, clinging to her fur and actually causing her to stagger a bit with the power of the strike. Or perhaps that was just the confusion again.

As Accemenla began another blind psybeam assault, Tobias reached for his guidebook and found blubble's entry. Flipping the page, he discovered that he was right; the pokémon he was facing was the transitional stage between the water-type starter and the fearsome slipstri. Glancing up at the battle and observing that the serpent had slipped underwater and Accemenla was now firing at random into the pool, Tobias confirmed that nothing much had changed and went on to read the pokémon's entry.

_Sesstra, the Sea Serpent Pokémon. Type: Water_

_Sesstra is renown as a carefree and jovial spirit, a lover of practical jokes and mischief of all kinds. An amicable companion, it is nevertheless a great irritant to fishermen, whose efforts it will often thwart in ways that are, while amusing to the pokémon itself, less to the human. Sesstra evolves into slipstri, but many guides advise their pokémon not to complete the evolution to their final form. Most prefer the fun-loving sesstra to the fierce and foul-tempered slipstri; however, sesstra tend to evolve against their guides' wishes, if only as a joke._

Indeed, the sesstra did seem to be enjoying itself. Coming up beneath Accemenla's platform, it succeeded in tipping the tarsix into the pool. She yowled and thrashed around in the water, much to the sesstra's amusement, although the cold shock seemed to rid her of most of her confusion. When the sesstra swam up in front of her, grinning broadly, she promptly smacked it across the face, leaving a nasty set of scratch marks on its snout. Unfazed, it simply blasted her with a water gun in response, and she barely managed to keep herself afloat.

Keeping her opponent away with a few hasty psybeams thrown over her shoulder, Accemenla paddled back to her platform and dragged herself on, draggled and embittered as she reached relatively sound ground once more. For his part, the sesstra slipped beneath the surface again, but as Accemenla was leaning out, peering down in order to line up another psybeam shot, she was surprised as the creature's fluked tail, rather than following the rest of its sinuous body beneath the waves, jerked forward and dealt her a powerful slam to the back of the head. Toppling forward into the water again, Accemenla fought increasing fatigue in another bid to reach the surface.

The sesstra was really starting to bug Tobias, and not just because it was giving Accemenla some serious trouble. There was something about the pokémon being here, at the water temple, and about the way he thought its owner looked familiar. He frowned. He didn't like this at all. Something was strange here.

No sooner had Accemenla reached the safety of somewhat dry wood again than the sesstra's head popped up just off the other side of the platform, serving up a bubblebeam and sending her back into the waves. It was playing to her weariness, Tobias realized. If it could keep her focused on staying afloat, it could just wait for her to tire of battle and not have to worry too much about retaliation. It didn't help that Accemenla had spent so much energy on those psybeams in the last round, Tobias thought grimly. She was flagging.

Once more Accemenla scrambled aboard the float, claws sunk into the wood as she hauled herself, panting, out of the water. The sesstra's head came up, and it blasted a vicious water gun at the tarsix—only to have it shoved right back down its throat by Accemenla's confusion attack.

Gagging and writhing, the sesstra tried to clear its lungs of fluid, an instinctive response despite the fact that its gills would provide it with adequate oxygen underwater even if its lungs weren't functional. Water dribbling messily over its chin instead of shooting out to smack Accemenla back again. The tarsix's eyes glowed a vibrant blue, and she lunged while the sesstra was temporarily put out of action. Leaping through the air, she landed, claws splayed, right across the beast's face and immediately began clawing it up with considerable vigor.

The sesstra gave a gurgling bellow and began to thrash about, still coughing and spitting up the remains of its water gun as dark blood started to mix with the water dripping off its face. Accemenla rode out the serpent's desperate attempts to dislodge her with surprising ease, her taloned digits, made for clinging to rough tree bark, digging into its slick skin and only being forced deeper by its struggles.

Twisting awkwardly, the sesstra fired a point-blank water gun straight into Accemenla's stomach, trying to pry her off with the force of the attack. The tarsix grimaced, shut her eyes, but hung on. Slowly her fingers were dragged out, leaving deep, freely bleeding gashes in their wake, until at last the pressure overcame her grip and she came free of the sesstra's head, tumbling back through the air to land on her back on the float again. She merely lay there, panting and staring up at the ceiling, her gory claws still curled as though sunk into flesh. Wasting no time, the sesstra brought his tail around, slamming it down on her with all his might and knocking her out.

Tobias couldn't help but be impressed by Accemenla's performance as he recalled the tarsix to the safety of her chime. It was time to send out Jinx and hope for the best, but he was quite confident that the murkrow wouldn't have a problem finishing the sesstra off. The sea serpent was bleeding profusely, and though obviously enraged, was steadily weakening from blood loss.

"All right, Jinx, it's your turn," Tobias said, ringing the bird's chime commandingly. A cloud of white smoke drifted lazily, almost reluctantly, out of the instrument's end and slowly congealed into the familiar disheveled form of Jinx. The murkrow immediately put his beak in the air, looking extremely disdainful, and pointedly looked away from his guide. "Oh, don't worry," Tobias said venomously, "you won't have to take any orders from _me_."

He looked up at his opponent, and was very disconcerted to find the boy staring at him penetratingly. Uneasy, Tobias flashed him a confused grin. "Uh, start?"

"Yes," the acolyte said slowly, "let the battle begin."

Jinx gave the sesstra a lazy glance and turned away as though it wasn't worth his time. The sea serpent, after briefly dipping its head underwater to clear the blood out of its eyes, proceeded to soak him with a fine bubblebeam attack. Jinx screeched with extreme indignation and took to the air, flapping slowly around over the pool while the sesstra fired water guns after him, not quite managing to strike the murkrow but coming dangerously close to hitting home even so.

"I know you," the acolyte pronounced as Jinx gracefully tipped a wing and slipped out of the way of another water gun.

"What?" Tobias asked, truly confused. "No, I'm sure you don't."

"Yeah I do," the other boy protested. "You haven't been by here before, have you?"

"No," Tobias said with growing discomfort. Both boys suddenly snapped their attention back to the battle as Jinx took a hit, the sesstra's carefully aimed water gun blasting him full in the chest. Loose feathers, now drenched, flew everywhere and Jinx temporarily lost control, plummeting through the air and screeching what Tobias could only assume was something unrepeatable. With a wild flurry of wingbeats, the murkrow succeeded in regaining control, but the sesstra was quick to hit him with another watery projectile. Muttering a constant stream of curses to himself, Jinx gave up and settled back onto one of the floating platforms to think a moment. It appeared he was actually going to have to fight this one, rather than just hang out until his opponent gave in to his current wounds.

Unfortunately, his thinking moment was one instant he couldn't afford to waste. His opponent surged out of the water before him, face contorted into an expression of pure malice accented by the trails of blood that streaked it with garish warpaint. The sesstra leaped onto the platform and, in a single fluid, slithering motion, encircled Jinx and began to constrict.

His wings pinned uncomfortably against his sides, Jinx twisted and squirmed, trying desperately to escape his captor's coils. His neck wasn't long enough for him to reach much of the sesstra's body, but that which he could he attacked viciously with his beak, tearing out large chunks of flesh and seeking out the muscle beneath with desperate ferocity. The water-type hissed and, with an awkward swish of the portion of its tail not devoted to the wrap attack, sent itself rolling off the platform and into the water. For a moment bird and snake floated at the top of the water, the churning liquid reddened by Jinx's bid for escape, then the pair sank from view, save a sheen of blood on the water and a few lonely-looking feathers.

"So I've seen you somewhere else, then," the acolyte said suddenly, picking up the conversation right where it had left off and momentarily disorienting his opponent.

"I… no, no, I don't know you." Tobias was starting to get irritated now. Almost angrily, he went back through all the places he could possibly have seen the boy. He hadn't been out in the greater world of Waytar that long, which made it relatively easy. No, not in Rareview. He hadn't been amongst the _Sea Pidgeot_'s passengers, either. Maybe they'd seen each other earlier, then…

Tobias's breath froze in his lungs as his mind froze on a single moment one sunny morning what seemed lifetimes ago…

_The tall boy, probably the ringleader, was talking to one of the girls, swinging his new chime almost idly from one hand._

"_Where're you going, Marcus?"_

"_Oh, to Salt Bay. That's where the Water Temple is, after all, and I've always wanted to visit it. And my blubble should feel right at home there."_

"You _do _remember, don't you?" Marcus's voice was excited now, his eyes shining with anticipation as he looked across the arena at Tobias. The boy jerked slightly, guiltily, startled out of his reverie. His expression must have given away his revelation; no doubt he'd looked like he's suddenly been afflicted by a bad stomachache.

"Err, well…" He couldn't let anything on. The boy had known him from beginning, knew where he came from, knew his _real name_, and almost undoubtedly knew about the reward put out for his capture.

Beneath the water, Jinx was growing increasingly desperate. The sesstra was pulling itself ever tighter around him, forcing the air from his lungs. Precious bubbles of sustenance floating past Jinx's eyes and back to the surface as he thrashed in the serpent's powerful grip. He'd flayed the thing almost down to the bone, but it seemed immune to the pain, battle-crazed and determined to see Jinx give in before it did. His mind slowly going cloudy from oxygen deprivation, he cast about with all his senses, pouring out his last reserves of strength, searching desperately for a way out, any way out of the sesstra's grasp. His conscious mind retreated before a rising tide of unconsciousness as his body started to shut down, leaving the way clear for his deepest instincts to take over. Power surged up from the dark, untapped recesses of his mind.

The acolyte was growing increasingly annoyed by Tobais's reticence. The boy was evading the question for all he was worth, sweating bullets and clearly at a loss for what to do. If he hadn't been suspicious before, Marcus certainly was now. "Come on, why don't you tell me?" he asked in exasperation. "It's not that big a deal!"

Sesstra's body suddenly collapsed in upon itself, the loops that had been holding Jinx firmly in their grasp suddenly surrounding nothing but water. They came together in a confused jumble, the portion of them that had actually been touching the murkrow oddly blackened, as if by fire. The sesstra, its long body now thoroughly tangled up, struggled to unknot itself, its movements growing more sluggish as its numerous wounds continued to dump its blood into the pool.

Jinx appeared above the arena, outlined in a blaze of reverse light. Black energy hissed and crackled as it danced across his feathers, seeming to eat away at the air around it and at the very fabric of existence. Marcus's eyes went to the bird, then to Tobias. Murkrow. Boy. Boy-murkrow. Murkrow-boy. Boy he knew from somewhere. Knew the bird, too. Knew them from where…?

He gasped. "You're Tobias!"

Jinx, too weary and waterlogged to fly, tumbled from the air and landed heavily on a floating platform, where he promptly began to gag up an impressive quantity of water.

"My name's Thomas," Tobias said hastily. "I think you're just a little confused."

The sesstra had succeeded in getting himself unwound and, with a snarl, he rallied the last of his strength to rise back to the surface. The murkrow was on the end of his rope, too. One more good attack would finish him off.

"No, I remember. You started off in the same town as me, and you got that murkrow there as your starter. You were that kid who hardly ever came to class, the farm boy, right?"

Jinx had cleared his lungs and now sat huddled on the platform, eyes closed as he tried to regain his senses and his composure. The sesstra's head broke the surface a foot or so to his right.

Tobias wasn't seeing an easy way out of this one.

Jinx's eyes snapped open. The water snake was gathering its strength for one last attack, he could tell. It wouldn't be able to muster another. To the murkrow, time seemed to pass in slow motion as he watched the sesstra's cheeks distend with pent-up water, its jaws starting to open to let it out.

"I'd hardly gotten to Salt Bay before I started hearing rumors about you. They say you stole some poor kid's pokémon, beat them up, then escaped from jail after they convicted you. The officer that arrested you came back from the pursuit was so badly beaten up they could hardly tell who he was!" Marcus was staring at Tobias with wide eyes, as though looking for some hint in the boy's manner to confirm the exciting and yet horrible tale.

Jinx snapped a wing toward the slipstri's face, flicking a thin trail of dark energy from the tip of his coal-black and currently very wet wing. The pursuit attack whipped through the air and wrapped its sticky tendrils around one of the plumes growing from the sesstra's head. Tugging his wing down and to the side, Jinx wrenched the sea serpent's head around so its water gun sprayed harmlessly out into open air.

Tobias could only shake his head, eyes downcast. Marcus's excitement died, his expression hardening into a grim, dutiful expression. "You're not getting away," he hissed, spinning around in a whirl of robes and ringing his chime. There was a moment of confusion as Jinx's pursuit attack pulled even more tenaciously on the sesstra, and the serpent cried out in pain, half-dematerialized but getting yanked back from his chime by the rope of dark energy. The pursuit gave out, however, and the sesstra was pulled back to safety at last. Marcus was out the door he had come through in a flash, and Tobias could hear him yelling for help as he pelted down the hall beyond.

_Probably would have come at me himself if he wasn't out of pokémon, _Tobias thought grimly. "Jinx, return," he said, not noticing the look of excited elation that the murkrow had turned on him as soon as he had realized that he'd won. "Come on, Chevron. Let's go."

Not fully understanding but eager to comply, Chevron sprang up and dashed after Tobias as the boy ran back into the hallway from which he had come.

As the door swung shut behind him, Tobias was gripped by a moment of blind, utter panic. A nondescript hallway of the Water Temple confronted him, and his flight, hardly begun, was stopped short. Which way?

He looked left and right. There wasn't any clue as to which way he should go, and he had been too nervous to pay attention to where he was being taken when brought up to this room in the first place. He had no idea how to get back to his room.

Well, maybe he could just leave and not worry about the stuff in his room. An exit would almost certainly be easier to find than one of any number of identical guestrooms. Tobias ditched that idea quickly, however. Just go off and leave all his food? His warm coat? _Igneous? _

There was only one choice, then. Quickly exchanging Jinx's chime, still clutched in his hand, for Accemenla's, Tobias called up the tarsix. She appeared, still dripping, on the floor in front of him. _What? _she asked wearily, clearly not appreciating being released so soon after her battle. Undoubtedly, she thought that some praise and a good rest and healing were in order, not some further request.

"I need you to show me the way back to our room," he said. "Fast. We have to get out of here."

_Why don't you just get one of the robed flunkies to show you the way back? They're always on call._

"Can't. They're after me. Please, Accemenla."

The tarsix's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed. She took what Tobias thought was an altogether-too-long moment to decide, then snarled, _Follow me. _

Tobias hustled after the bounding tarsix, chevron keeping pace with him and looking extremely nervous. Accemenla left a trail of blood and water on the stone floor of the hallway, and though Tobias occasionally worried he'd lose sight of the quick psychic-type, he could always, in a pinch, just follow the dampness.

It wasn't long before they reached his room. Tobias fumbled for the key and practically fell into the room when the door sprang open, then hurriedly started gathering up his things. He threw his new coat on and recalled Accemenla and Chevron, then frantically tried to stuff his guidebook into his pack. It wouldn't fit, and after a moment's struggle, he gave up and decided to just carry it. Grabbing his heavy bag, he dashed back out his room's door, tossing the key over his shoulder as an afterthought.

He remembered the way to the front lobby, which was fortunate. He could hear shouting and uproar building behind him, feet running on stone. They'd see Accemenla's trail, he knew.

As he ran for the lobby, an acolyte seemed to come out of nowhere, stepping around a corner to confront him. Tobias just blew on past, shouldering the boy out of the way and not even slowing his mad rush. Then he was in the lobby, ignoring the receptionist's yell of "Hey!" Out the doors, he once again was unable to enjoy the magnificent gardens as he stumbled down the cobbled path to the temple's gate.

Here again he hesitated. He couldn't head back into Salt Bay, that was for sure. Soon enough pretty much everyone would be on the lookout for him. So far he hadn't studied where he wanted to go next or planned out a route to take or anything. He didn't even know what the closest city was, much less where it lay.

But ultimately, out was better than in. Turning his back on the huddled buildings of Salt Bay, Tobias struck out into the unknown, once more with the law at his heels and an uncertain future laid out before him.


	36. Flight

**Author's Notes: **Wow, been a long time, hasn't it? I apologize for the huge wait--I've been working hard on this story, though, and I guarantee that from this point on updates will be coming much, much more frequently! I'm sorry that all I have to show for these months is a somewhat filler-ish chapter, but I assure you that more interesting updates are coming soon. Thanks to everyone who's stayed interested in this story despite my erratic update schedule and long delays.

**Chapter Thirty-Six: Flight**

"Very well, then. You may go. I must think on your report in private."

Varnello glanced up at the massive desk before him, at the old, grim-looking human seated on the other side. The Master of the temple appeared even less amused than normal, his face drawn into a brooding scowl and his chin resting on his interlaced hands, elbows planted on the highly polished desktop.

The desk itself was quite a monster, Varnello noted with distaste. Great and sprawling across almost the entire width of the room, it was heavily carven with fanciful scenes of pokémon and humans frolicking, fighting, and generally parading across its vast expanse. There was a great deal more space on its broad and shiny top than was remotely necessary even for the considerable work with which the Master had to deal. The desk's opulence was a perfect compliment to the massive windows to its left, which afforded an excellent view of Saltmarsh stretching out below the great tower of the Psychic Temple. Sapping heat from the room in Waytar's long, harsh winters and trapping it inside during the brief summer, the great glass expanse was an uncomfortable and totally unnecessary show of wealth. The thick carpet into which Varnello's hands and feet were currently sunk was more agreeable to the alakazam, but nevertheless an extravagance.

His gaze still on the Master, Varnello thought that the human himself, in his luxurious high-backed chair, was nothing more than an extravagance himself--an unfortunately necessary concession to Waytar's always-troublesome human population. But there the man was, so assured of his position and of his power, scowling down at the alakazam crouched before him as though he was some sort of superior.

Well, let him have his delusions, Varnello thought. They kept him happy and tractable. The alakazam's eyes traveled to the xatu that stood behind the Master's chair, flanking him. Each had one wing raised so that the appendages crossed behind the huge chair and framed the Master. Of course, the two attendants—siblings, actually, from the same clutch—were perfectly motionless, looking rather like exquisitely lifelike statues or, perhaps, unusually lively corpses.

_The power behind the throne, _Varnello thought, _literally. _It was before them he debased himself and to them that he reported, in truth. Let the Master think it was otherwise. The true Masters would influence the human to the correct way of thinking so subtly that he wouldn't even know that the thoughts and schemes weren't his own.

As he kept his eyes trained on the two xatu, he had the strong impression that they wanted him to look away again. It was neither a verbal command nor a mental one, but Varnello understood and obeyed, returning his gaze to the carpet again as was proper. The whole train of thought had taken only as long as it took for him to flick his eyes up at the Master and then back down again, and the slow-witted human, of course, hadn't noticed.

_Yes, Master,_Varnello said to the man, repressing the urge to make the honorative plural. Then, rising with his eyes still averted from the man behind the desk, he turned and walked slowly from the room. Weariness dragged on him, and he was looking forward to a chance to rest at last. His journey to reach the temple had been long and difficult but, as always, he'd been obligated to report first and attend to his own needs later. Now, at last, he'd have the chance to relax, recover, and nurse thoughts of sweet revenge.

* * *

_Where are we?_Accemenla asked as she began to shiver, folding her arms in a gesture that was equal parts imperiousness and response to the cold. 

Tobias merely shrugged. "Somewhere between Salt Bay and Saltmarsh. About a third of the way to Saltmarsh, maybe."

_Did you say_SaltmarshAccemenla hissed, a shudder that had nothing to do with the cold wracking her body. _What on earth would possess you to want to go there?_

"Look, it's the closest city, all right? I'm really not in the mood for argument," Tobias said bitterly. He was cold despite his massive new coat, primarily because his legs were soaked.

_I don't believe you understand, _Accemenla said icily. _You can't go there. Hear me? I don't care why you're headed that way, but make a change of plans or something. Going to Saltmarsh would be stupid, even for you._

"Oh yeah? And I suppose you'd rather spend a couple weeks or so out in the middle of _this_?" Tobias asked, gesturing to the landscape in general. Accemenla allowed her eyes to briefly flit across the scenery, taking in the tall, browning grasses and reeds, the muddy little islands rising among the subtly flowing waters that stretched on as far as the eye could see in all directions.

_Yes, _she said._ No contest._

This was not the answer Tobias had expected. For a second he just stared at the tarsix in exasperated disbelief, then sighed. "Well, I'm sure not," he grumbled. "Look, I just let you out for dinner. Like I said, I really don't feel like arguing right now." He reached into his outsized coat and withdrew another chime, ringing it to call up Chevron.

Though outwardly she remained haughty, Accemenla's mind was whirring away on fear-greased wheels. Her fur was still wet from the battle in the Water Temple, and a slight wind rushed across the great marsh, cutting right through to her skin. It was laced with faint, tingling traces of free energy, but the tarsix was in no mood to appreciate the delicious feeling of power running through the air.

_Oh, that's too bad, _she sneered as Tobias released Jinx. _You_ _can go on to Saltmarsh if you want, but I'm not—what happened to _him

Jinx was a wretched sight, totally soaked and obviously exhausted. His red eyes rolled around to give Accemenla a glare, but otherwise he didn't even respond to the tarsix's question.

"Uh, that sesstra," Tobias replied, remembering that Accemenla had been in her chime during Jinx's battle.

_Well, aren't you going to fix him up or something? _the tarsix asked impatiently._And come to that, I could use a bit of healing, too. _Her body ached from the pounding given it by the sesstra, and glancing down she could see a spectacular bruise forming where the tentacool had grabbed her leg in a death grip. Chevron, standing off to the side, nodded in agreement.

Tobias flushed and didn't meet his pokémon's eyes. "I don't really have anything for you guys," he admitted. "I used the last of my healing stuff on that slipstri, and I haven't bought any more since. You guys are just going to have to heal on your own. I'm really, really sorry."

_Oh, this just keeps getting better and better, _Accemenla snarled, and even Chevron looked betrayed. Jinx just ruffled his feathers a bit, creating a small shower of water. He appeared to be in an even worse mood than before, Accemenla noted. Well, not her problem; they stayed away from each other as it was, and she was quite content with that.

Tobias ignored them both and released Igneous, the magmar's presence instantly warming his direct surroundings, a pleasant contribution to the oppressively dark and damp atmosphere. "Think you could get a fire going for us, Igneous?" Tobias asked wearily, tired out by arguing with his perpetually recalcitrant tarsix and by the unpleasant environment and still more unpleasant journey that lay ahead. At the moment, he didn't really feel like contemplating the far-reaching consequences of being discovered again—right now, he just wanted to be concerned with getting warm, getting food, and getting out of this accursed marsh.

Igneous looked dubiously at the pitifully small, very wet pile of wood stacked forlornly in the middle of the little island Tobias had chosen to spend the night on. The ground sizzled slightly beneath his feet, faint wisps of steam curling up around his toes as the natural heat of his body cooked away the water in the earth. Shrugging, he bent over and coaxed a fire into existence, a weak little blaze that sent up clouds of greasy and unpleasant smoke. Tobias and the other pokémon all crowded around it eagerly, however, just thankful to have a little heat and warmth.

"Well, we have plenty of food, guys," Tobias said after a little while, trying to sound cheerful. "Pretty much whatever you want. As long as it's something that comes in a can, anyway." He dragged his bulging backpack over to his side and overturned it, dumping a clunking pile of cans onto the peaty earth next to him.

_Got any canned intelligence, there? _Accemenla asked sarcastically. _I really recommend it. Tastes delicious. They even say it can prolong your life…_

Tobias didn't respond, just despondently grabbing some tuna and pulling back the tab on the top of the can. He now desperately wished he'd thought to bring some crackers or something. The three pokémon and their guide ate their meager meal largely in silence. Strange cries echoed out across the marshes occasionally, and the wind sighed through the tall grass, but conversation was decidedly missing. At last, everyone had finished, Igneous had absently gathered up their empty cans and was melting them down between his paws, casually dripping liquid metal back and forth between them, and Accemenla decided to speak up.

_So why the sudden rush to Saltmarsh without any chance to stop and heal us, huh? I can only hope there's method to your madness. _

Tobias shrugged and looked away. "I don't really want to talk about it, all right? I'm just in a bit of trouble again, that's all."

_Well, I'm sure that starting a fire that produces quite a bit of smoke and is doubtlessly visible from several miles away is a good way to begin your escape from whatever-it-is, _Accemenla replied nastily.

"I don't think it matters," Tobias said gloomily. "It's sort of hard to hide out here—all they'd have to do if they really wanted to find me would be send some flying pokémon out, or a psychic-type or something. Besides, it's not like I'm the only trainer out here at this point; they're probably still looking for me around the city."

_A valid point,_ Accemenla conceded. _I'll agree that not many people would expect you to be stupid enough to go fleeing off to Saltmarsh. _The tarsix knew very well that they were probably the only guide-group making the trek through the marshes at this time of year, and indeed, there were no other telltale plumes of smoke visible over the rolling hills and valleys of reeds and grass. She knew why the fire didn't matter, why they weren't following, and she thought he knew it too, or at least suspected, for all his ineptitude. He made no response to her last statement, instead just getting out his bedding.

_Fool, _Accemenla murmured to herself.

Quiet descended upon the marshes, the chilly weather a deterrent to the life that would ordinarily be filling the darkness with songs, cries, and distant rustlings and splashes. Chevron nuzzled up to Tobias, and the boy sleepily put his arm around the linoone, the two of them huddling together to keep warm. Igneous, ever solitary, just tended to the fire, with Jinx sitting as close to it as possible with wings outspread, drying them by the flames. The bleak landscape suited Accemenla's mood perfectly well, and the cutting wind made her give a bitter grin; there was that same tingle of energy. It was everywhere here, something so ubiquitous that it ordinarily went unnoticed. After her long time in Johto, it was invigorating, to be immersed again in such power, something she'd been missing all the time she was away and never been able to put her finger on. That the clumsy oaf of a human couldn't even sense it only made it seem all the sweeter.

The tarsix's smile faded, replaced by a dark, grim expression. Couldn't sense it, yes—destroyed it, even. In the air around the boy was a dead zone, not a glimmer of free power sparking through the atmosphere, as though he were some sort of black hole, pulling it all in and letting none of it out. She glanced back at him scornfully. He lay there innocently enough, snoring gently, the linoone sprawled across his chest drooling heavily on his sleeping bag. As though sensing her thoughts, Jinx shot a glance her way, red eyes glimmering with reflected fire. His upraised wings cast long, wavering shadows across his slumbering guide. Perhaps it was just a trick of the light, but to Accemenla, it seemed the bird smirked.

Teeth bared in a grimace, Accemenla turned away again and raised a paw slightly to let the wind play through her long, delicate fingers, teasing swirling tendrils of energy from the breeze. Maybe, she conceded, maybe he really didn't know anything, was just wandering aimlessly in hopes of finding this "normal life" he seemed to covet.

Give him the benefit of the doubt, then, Accemenla decided. She paused her gentle weaving of the wind as she felt the murkrow's eyes upon her. Innocent he was, maybe, and oblivious. But the darkness… the darkness was not.

Getting up without a backwards glance, she started off into the marshes, into the cold and the solitude.

* * *

The trip through the marshland was a long and unpleasant one. The cold only worsened, and Tobias took to keeping Igneous out as much as possible, not only to compensate for how much the magmar ordinarily would have to be kept in his pokéball but also for the simple warmth of his presence. In the literal sense, that was, not the metaphorical—the fire-type was quiet and unassuming, and though he hovered near Tobias's side agreeably enough, he rarely spoke and seemed extremely distant. 

In truth, Igneous disliked walking through the marshes; the damp wearied him, sapping his natural fires, and he had to watch his footing carefully, to avoid stepping into the brackish water as much as was possible, while at the same time staying away from the tall marsh-grasses. They were dead and brittle, rattling hollowly in the melancholy wind, and a moment of carelessness could see the entire marshland going up in a great blaze if he brushed too close to them.

Despite the oppressive atmosphere of the swamps and the worsening weather, however, Tobias's spirits actually improved over the course of his journey. No sign ever came of pursuit or any attempt whatsoever to locate him, and this reassured him that he was either too unimportant to be worth chasing after or that, through some twist of pleasant fortune, he had managed to confound his pursuers by choosing to escape out across the desolate marshlands. Though the arena was harsh and unfriendly, the relative quiet and solitude was oddly soothing, giving Tobias plenty of time alone with his thoughts. All the while, the burden on his back only grew lighter and lighter, and the ground gradually less soggy and miring as Saltmarsh drew nearer.

In some ways, the cold was an ally as well, for by now most pokémon of the marshes had migrated on to Waytar's southern islands or gone into hibernation for the winter, leaving few threats for Tobias to contend with. Without any healing items for his pokémon, he was reluctant to engage in any training at all, and for the most part wild pokémon left him alone. His own pokémon could roam fairly freely without worry about being attacked, for by now they were more powerful than most wild creatures in the area, although Jinx soon grew to detest the marshland for its flat blankness and distinct lack of gaudy items to pilfer. The murkrow would sometimes ride along on Tobias's head or go winging off across the endless fields of brittle grass, in search of whatever mischief he could find, but increasingly spent time sulking in his chime. This, along with the fact that she was no longer so pained by the daylight as she was in Johto, encouraged Accemenla to remain outside more.

The only real spot of excitement on their trip was when Tobias, unwary, failed to avoid the haunt of a skairon and was attacked by the large bird pokémon. Standing stock-still amidst the dying reeds, the predatory pokémon had been invisible to Tobias's casual eye as it watched the subtly flowing water below with hungry intensity, waiting to spear some unwary prey with its wickedly long, serrated beak. Why it hadn't gone south Tobias didn't know, for it was surely wanting for food at this time of year and therefore all the more inclined to attack a lone guide out of desperation.

Fortunately, Igneous was stalking along at Tobias's side and quickly stepped in to halt the bird as it rushed for the boy, huge wings spreading as it prepared to take to the air. It pulled up short, however, as the unfamiliar pokémon challenged it. The alien heat radiating off Igneous' body made the bird nervous, and its head weaved back and forth at the end of its long, snake-like neck as it observed the magmar. Tobias, after spending a moment recovering from the shock of having the large, intimidating pokémon suddenly rush at him, settled his pack more comfortably on his shoulders and actually grinned for the first time in a while. An actual wild pokémon battle—it seemed like a long time since he'd last had one. He'd have to be careful, though, since he didn't have any way to heal Igneous if he got badly injured.

"Okay, try an ember, Igneous," Tobias said. The attack was weak, but it could be performed at a distance, and Tobias wanted the magmar to stay out of the range of the skairon's wicked beak.

The command surprised Igneous a bit, as the attack wasn't one he'd been called to use in a long time. Nevertheless, he obligingly spat a streamer of glowing sparks at the skairon. The bird pokémon easily dodged the attack, hopping sideways on its tall, slender legs, then opened its beak and let out a horrific noise that drowned out the sizzle of embers dying in the brackish water. Igneous and Tobias both were forced to cover their ears as an awful, drawn-out shriek rose up from the bird pokémon, its wings spread again and the crest of black, dagger-like feathers running down the center of its skull standing on end as well. The screech was cut off with a sharp clack as the skairon closed its beak again and dove forward, lashing out before Igneous could react. A series of quick, abrupt jabs left bleeding wounds in the magmar's chest, then the skairon danced backward as Igneous took a belated swing at it. Skipping lightly from foot to foot, the bird watched carefully to see what the magmar would do next.

Grunting, Igneous put a paw over the wounds left by the fury attack. They were already cauterized, the blood that had dripped from them burnt away to nothing. Without waiting for a command, he blew a streamer of black smoke from his bill, which rapidly expanded into a dense, choking cloud that hung in the air around him and threatened to engulf the skairon until it retreated again.

The smokescreen was less effective at hiding Igneous than it might have been for some other pokémon, for the fiery glow of the magmar's body lit up the cloud from within, clearly indicating where he was. Nevertheless, the skairon was cautious and, what's more, felt it knew how to deal with the technique. Unfurling its wings, which were lined with curved, sickle-shaped feathers, the skairon started whipping up a breeze to disperse the smoke.

It had barely begun, though, before Igneous shot out of the cloud at a dead run, slamming a blazing fist into the skairon's midsection even as it was trying to dodge. The bird squawked and staggered away, stabbing at random with its long beak as it tried to get its bearings back. Igneous persisted with the attack, launching punch after punch at the struggling skairon and keeping it off balance. Though its serrated beak would occasionally hit home, Igneous ignored the blows entirely and kept on attacking until at last, smoldering and humiliated, the skairon managed to break free. Without waiting to see if Igneous would pursue the battle farther, it ran in the opposite direction, wide wings flapping until it was able to haul itself awkwardly into the air and depart.

Igneous merely watched it go, then turned around and walked back to Tobias through the lingering smoky haze. "Umm, good work, Igneous," the boy said, slightly unnerved despite himself, not to mention a bit embarrassed—he'd been too wrapped up in just watching the battle to even get a command in edgewise after the first. Still, it was good that Igneous was proficient at battling on his own; wasn't that what Tobias was supposed to be guiding him towards, anyway?

A bit uneasy for reasons he couldn't describe, Tobias led the way onward, and the magmar followed without question, silent and stoic as ever. If his victory meant anything to him, he gave no sign.

* * *

At last, the skyline of Saltmarsh city was faintly visible on the horizon, and when Tobias made camp for the night, he felt as though he were sleeping in the city's shadow. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened on the trip through the marshes; maybe he wasn't really being pursued, then. Perhaps they'd finally realized he wasn't important enough to be hounded. Sustained by that cheerful thought, Tobias went about his work with a happy will. 

Even Accemenla seemed to be in a better mood. She'd stopped complaining of late, anyway, and had actually taken to sticking closer to Tobias rather than wandering off as she usually did. She was quiet, yes, but Tobias found silence infinitely preferable to constant nagging and ridicule.

The next morning, the tarsix watched him as he packed up camp for what he hoped would be the last time in a long time. Igneous had been returned to his pokéball; this close to the city, Tobias didn't want to risk keeping him out. Without the magmar's comforting heat or the warmth of a fire, the chill of the season was even more pronounced, but it couldn't dampen Tobias's spirits. Jinx, too, had been relegated to his chime; Tobias didn't think that keeping the murkrow out with him would be wise, in case anyone recognized a boy and a murkrow as matching the description of a certain troublemaker.

_Are you really sure you want to do this? _Accemenla asked abruptly, and Tobias paused in rolling up his sleeping bag, startled.

"Well, yeah. We've been through this already, haven't we?" The tarsix merely kept her eyes fixed on him in an earnest stare. "Look, don't give me any more grief, okay? I don't want to hear it." And, surprisingly, she didn't. Tobias set off again with her trailing along behind, and soon enough he had forgotten the matter—or simply buried it deep enough beneath his relief that he no longer really noticed it.

It was a little after midday when Tobias finally found himself in the city, a bit stunned by the clamor of life around him after having been out in the marshes so long but nevertheless grateful to have arrived. Whatever uneasiness he'd harbored deep and unacknowledged in his heart had been banished by the pleasant anonymity he'd found in the city streets. No one looked at him edgewise or, indeed, paid him any attention at all. The people were all hurrying about on their own business, and if they weren't particularly friendly, they weren't openly hostile, either.

Wandering in the general direction of the Psychic Temple, Tobias was guided by the vague notion of explaining his case, showing the Psychics that they didn't need to fear him, after all. Or perhaps he could just try earning a medal, if they didn't recognize him and his wariness turned out to be nothing more than paranoia. He assumed that the temple must be the huge tower that jutted up from the center of the city, watching over the people and pokémon below, and it was towards this that he headed.

"See, Accemenla? This isn't so bad, is it? What did I tell you?" He called without looking back, smiling up at the tower instead.

There was no response.

Tobias paused and turned to look around. "Accemenla… ?"

The tarsix was gone.


	37. Allies and Enemies Again

**Chapter Thirty-Seven: Allies and Enemies Again**

"You have done well, my child. Your help has been extremely valuable."

_It was only my duty, Master._

"Of course, but few would have endured for so long under such deplorable conditions. Imagine! Treated as a common slave in the clutches of one of the darklings… I assure you, your loyalty and courage will be well rewarded."

_Thank you, Master. Although, if I might make one request…?_

"Certainly."

_You won't… you won't punish him _too_ harshly, will you?_

"Of course not, child. What sort of people do you take us for?"

* * *

Surprised and a bit worried, Tobias looked around for Accemenla, scanning the bustling street. People pushed past him uncaringly as he stood there, growing increasingly nervous as he found no sign of the tarsix. She wasn't trotting by his side or riding on his pack; surely, though, she wouldn't have disappeared into the shifting crowd? Much though she might complain about Tobias and lament having to follow him around, she'd never before shown any serious inclination to escape. She really had seemed to hate the idea of coming here to Saltmarsh; maybe that was enough…?

Starting to panic, Tobias forced himself not to think of such things. Of course Accemenla hadn't run off; maybe she had just returned to her chime when he wasn't looking in order to escape the crush of people in the streets.

But no, her chime merely made a forlorn clanking sound when rung, and no pokémon materialized from it. She was still outside somewhere, roaming. Had he managed to lose her somehow? Another glance around at the street revealed no sign of the tarsix loping up to him, irritable or merely casually surprised by his worry, having been left behind or having carelessly left on some errand of her own.

Fighting down panic, Tobias smiled and gave an uneasy chuckle. Of course. She was angry at him and knew that her absence would be upsetting. Perhaps she had even thought that running off would convince him to leave the city entirely. Searching for her here would be a nightmare. If she didn't want to be found, she _wouldn't _be, and so could lead him on a wild goose chase for as long as she liked, only relenting when it seemed apparent he was about to cave.

Well, he wasn't going to play her game. Starting forward again, Tobias set off at a pace perhaps just a little too brisk, his eyes trained too determinedly on the Psychic Temple's tower ahead of him.

With each step towards it, he forced uncertainty and hesitation farther towards the back of his mind. This was, after all, his first chance to sleep in a real bed for nearly a week; he'd be warm and dry, and his food wouldn't be the kind that came out of a can. Winter fare in Waytar was far from impressive, but the last of the harvest should still be on the tables of a rich city like Saltmarsh, and the Temple would have only the finest for its guests, of course. By the time he reached the building's doors, Tobias had convinced himself that everything would be fine and was actually looking forward to what was to come as he entered.

A wave of heat rolled over him as he stepped across the Temple's threshold, and as the door behind him swung shut the busy clamor of the city was steadily reduced, becoming little more than a murmur as the door quietly settled back into place. A smile sprang unbidden to Tobias's lips as he glanced around the entry hall—it was by far the most opulent of the temples he'd seen so far. Unlike the Water Temple's hall, it was busy as well, with many purple-robed acolytes slumped in the tall armchairs that crowded around the truly massive fireplace that dominated one wall of the room. Through gaps in the crowd he could just see what had their attention—a kadabra standing in front of the flames, performing psychic tricks. The firelight glittered off the pokémon's spoon as it spun the implement deftly between its crooked fingers, conjuring a fleet of illusory copies that whirled and danced in the air around it.

Some older acolytes, probably just to show that they weren't impressed by kiddy stuff like that anymore, hung around large tables scattered about the room, playing cards or chatting beneath the watchful gaze of the Temple's masters, immortalized in huge portraits that crowded the walls. Perhaps nothing spoke more to the wealth of the Temple than the large, glass-paned windows that let the sun wash the scene with a sort of ethereal glow.

"Hey, you're not going to just stand there all day, are you?" someone called from directly in front of Tobias. He sheepishly turned his eyes away from the far-off gathering of acolytes and focused on one directly in front of him instead. The registration desk dwarfed even the tall, well-built boy standing behind it, but he managed to look down his nose at Tobias nonetheless.

"Oh, sorry," Tobias said, stepping hastily up to the desk. "I'm just here for the challenge. I'll probably stay a couple nights, too."

"Uh huh. Name?" The boy was already busy scrawling away in the registration book lying open on the desktop.

"Thomas Goldspur. Oh, and I have one medal, too, if you were going to ask that."

The acolyte stopped writing and glanced up, squinting at Tobias. "What?" Tobias asked, fighting to stave off nervousness. He was just being paranoid, of course. Nothing to worry about.

Shaking his head and laughing lightly, the acolyte said, "Oh, nothing. I thought for a moment you said something different, and I couldn't believe it. Anyway," he scribbled down a last few words, "I'll take you back to a room, then. Hey, Ashley!"

"What?" a voice responded from somewhere over by the fire.

"Watch the desk while I'm gone, okay?"

"If that means I don't have to move, fine," the unseen girl shouted back.

Grinning, the acolyte beckoned for Tobias to follow him and took off without a backward glance, pushing open the door to the left of his desk and heading deeper into the temple. Tobias hurried after him, trying to etch the precise route he was taking into his mind; he couldn't rely on Accemenla to lead him around this place.

It grew colder as they left the entry hall, and the acolyte kept up an almost uncomfortably brisk pace, but Tobias enjoyed the trip nonetheless. The hallways here were far from identical as they had been in the other temples, most lined with paintings or furnished with small, decorated alcoves with benches where one could stop to rest a while. Simply taking in all the extravagances of the place was more than enough to keep Tobias entertained.

Tobias paused in one corridor, looking up at a large portrait hung high on the wall. Like everything else in the Temple, it had an aura of expense about it, its thick, intricately carved wooden frame and glimmers of gilding about the edges speaking none-too-quietly of the portrait's value, as did the quality of the work itself. The portrait's subject was a sprightly, smiling youth dressed in the pale purple robes of the Temple.

After being out of Waytar so long, Tobias had fallen out of practice in recognizing the differences in its people, and the faces of those he had encountered recently were blended into a distressingly uniform blur. Something about the smile of the boy in the painting, though, caught Tobias's attention, and the name on the placard set into the lower part of the frame tickled at his memory.

Alexander Beechaven

September 9th, 2256 – April 23rd, 2267

May he see farther than us all in the place to which he has gone.

Tobias's guide noticed the boy's distraction and retraced his steps, coming to stand beside Tobias and looking up at the portrait as well. "Master Beechaven's son," he said, answering Tobias's unasked question. "Died just before he was supposed to start his guiding journey. Very tragic."

"Yeah," Tobias said, tearing his eyes away from painting, frustrated by the nagging feeling that he knew the boy, for all that he couldn't place him. Tobias fell into step behind the acolyte again, distracted and troubled by a lingering unease that had sprung up when he saw the portrait, saw the name. In such a state, he almost didn't notice when his escort eventually came to a halt.

The acolyte pushed open the door they had stopped in front of and motioned for Tobias to precede him. Tobias did so without much thought, and it was only once he was in the room proper that he noticed that something was wrong. This was no ordinary temple apartment: three cells, all currently unoccupied and with their thick-barred doors standing ajar, took up the entirety of one wall. Other than that, there was just a large table and a couple of chairs, presumably for guards to sit at. Even as Tobias whirled around, the door swung shut audibly and a chiming peal rang out. In a swirl of grayish mist, a medicham appeared, gray-skinned hand already reaching out to grab Tobias by the arm while the stunned boy was still trying to make sense of the situation.

"Wha—but—" Tobias stammered, staggering back as the medicham pushed on his arm, and none too gently at that.

"In," the acolyte said simply, jerking his head towards the nearest cell. His medicham continued to force Tobias in that direction, but the boy had come to his senses enough to put up some resistance. He pushed back against the medicham's insistent shoves and tried to tear free of the pokémon's grasp. The medicham was strong for all that it was thin, though, lithe power rippling through its well-trained muscles, and Tobias was forced into a retreat despite his best efforts.

"No! I'm _not_—" Tobias growled, gritting his teeth and twisting with all his might. In a flare of temper, he managed to free himself from the medicham's grasp. He staggered backwards at the sudden release, but almost immediately began trying to skirt around the medicham, his eyes darting around the cramped room and thoughts of escape crowding his mind.

"You _are_," the acolyte said calmly, "with or without a couple of broken limbs." The medicham lunged, grabbing Tobias by the shoulder this time and hustling him back into the cell. This time, the pokémon met with noticeably less resistance, although Tobias vocally let his displeasure be known. The medicham ignored him and summoned a ring of keys that had been lying on the table and caught them neatly out of midair, trying a couple before finding the one that locked Tobias in with a final-sounding click.

"You can't do this!" Tobias yelled, clutching the bars of his cell and glaring at his captors.

"Why not?" the other boy said with a laugh. "You _are_ a criminal, after all, and the Psychic Temple holds the highest court of all Waytar."

And then Tobias was wrenched around as his pack was torn from his shoulders and the belt was stripped from around his waist in a clatter of metal. With some difficulty, the medicham managed to pull the items through the bars, the pack having to be forced through sideways. A casual flick of the pokémon's blue-glowing hand sent the lot sailing across the room to land on the table. The medicham then gave Tobias a brief bow and trotted around to stand next to the acolyte, who was still in the doorway, fumbling with a chime at his belt. After a moment he succeeded in releasing an abra, which vanished almost as soon as it appeared with a faint rush of displaced air, having drawn whatever command it needed straight from the mind of its master and teleported straightaway.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Tobias bluffed. "I'm no criminal. I just came here to take the Temple's challenge!"

"Which was not very smart of you, considering that anyone with half a brain would realize who you are," the acolyte said casually, slouching across the room to sit at the table. He eyed Tobias up and down with a smirk. "Still, worked out well for me. Master Beechaven will be very pleased, I'm sure. He's been interested in you for a good long time now."

"But _why_?" Tobias pleaded.

"Because of what you are, of course," the acolyte said absently. The boy's attention was now focused on Tobias's guide belt and the chimes thereon. "A darkling. A traitor, I mean. Trying to destroy the government."

"What?!" Tobias howled, anger vying with fear for control of his voice. "I don't even know what you're talking about!"

The acolyte just shrugged and started to reach for Tobias's belt, only to stop and turn towards the door as it opened.

Tobias was not prepared for who entered.

"Accemenla!"

The tarsix didn't even turn to look at him, instead just trotting briskly towards his jailers.

_Ah, good. I see you've recovered my chime. Now, if you don't _mind…

The bronze instrument unhooked itself from Tobias's belt and floated gently over to the tarsix's outstretched paw. Accemenla closed her spindly fingers around it with a small smile.

"Who're you?" the acolyte asked suspiciously, half-rising from his seat. Accemenla's eyes flicked up to regard him scornfully as she reached back and coiled her tail around the large ring at the top of her chime.

I _am the one who turned him in, _she said, jerking a thumb in Tobias's direction. Though the tarsix's tone was flippant, her words struck Tobias almost as hard as a physical blow. Whatever hope had been building upon seeing the tarsix again was instantly dispersed, and he slumped slightly against the bars, grip slackening. The rest of what the tarsix said buzzed distantly around his mind, only half-heard, half-understood.

_So our master told me I would be rewarded, of course, and that my first reward would be my freedom. I just came to collect this as soon as I heard he'd been brought in from that little abra of yours. _Accemenla shook her chime at the acolyte. _Seeing as I won't be needing it anymore._

"I didn't send abra to you. Where is the master?"

_He had business of his own to attend to, _Accemenla replied calmly. _I and the twins were alone when Garino arrived; they will relay your message to the master when he returns._

She glanced back at Tobias, who was now resting his forehead against the cool metal of one of the bars, eyes closed as he tried to hold back tears. Accemenla had always been mean. She'd always expressed dislike for him. But he'd never imagined that she'd go so far as to betray him like this.

_You mind if I fraternize with the prisoner a bit?_ the tarsix asked brightly, and the acolyte gave her a sideways glance, brows furrowed, in response.

"I don't know what you mean," he said.

_Exactly! _Accemenla replied with delight, turning around and bounding towards Tobias's cell. Making a flying leap, she hit the bars with a clang, long fingers and toes easily gripping the metal to keep her hanging at about Tobias's eye level. The boy himself had jerked back in surprise, his look of shock devolving swiftly into a resentful scowl as he let go of the bars and stepped back.

Accemenla stuck her head in between the bars, a grin on her face as her huge ears, too large to fit through the gap, were plastered back against her skull, giving her a comical appearance. _So, how's it feel to be on the_other _side of the bars? _The tarsix asked conversationally.

Tobias, not trusting his voice to remain steady, settled for shooting her the most vitriol-filled look he could manage. This only caused Accemenla's grin to broaden. She laughed and tilted her head to the side, letting her left ear pop through the bars. _Aww, now that's just not very nice. After all I've been through at your hands, I thought you'd be a better sport about a spot of revenge._

Anger simmered in Tobias's chest, and he growled, "All you've been through? You're acting like I beat you all the time or something, instead of just putting up with your nastiness day in, day out."

The tarsix lost her mocking cordiality in an instant, leaning farter into the cell, her other ear slipping through the bars to join its brethren. _I lost my _life _the night you captured me, human! _she hissed. _No!_Tobias had been about to protest, but Accemenla removed one of the fingers clutching at the bars and pointed it warningly in the boy's direction. A wave of nausea and dizziness overcame Tobias as the tarsix's eyes flashed blue.

_You are going to listen to me for once, _Accemenla snarled. _You're going to listen and listen _good. _You, human, think only of yourself. It is a common failing in your species—you manage to ignore those who truly suffer to bring you the little comforts you so enjoy. It is quite selfish of you, really. And it is why, now, you look at me as though I were the enemy. I am not the enemy. _You _are the enemy. Every moment I have been with you has been a danger to my own life. Every moment that I wasn't doing everything in my power to lead the others to you, anyway. And what, after all, would they do to you? Throw you in prison or send you off somewhere where you couldn't do any harm? The punishment for treason is death, human. You are a darkling who can't expected to have any morals, but I—I would be the traitor. You _made _me the traitor._

_And through it all, I had to put up with the most insufferable company. That murkrow of yours, human—if you want to blame someone, you should be looking at him and not me. It's because of _him _you've had to go through all this—that I've had to go through all this with you. I tried to warn you, human. But no, you trusted him, of course, because he was your starter. He was _special_. I was just some bitter wild pokémon you caught on a whim. So you put all my complaints down as simply bitter, mean-spirited rants. Well._

_You took me away from my home, human, into that sun-blasted land where the daylight hurts and all the people are crazy. You made me speak with that hell-beast, the one they call Raikou. But I adapted. I realized that I had escaped them; the pressure was off. And what that big snarl of electricity said was right—something really is coming. Something big. Something dangerous. And I thought that at least the people there were a bit more prepared for it—in Waytar, they're sitting ducks, relying on the shield to defend them from all evil. You yourself are testament enough to that fact. The sun might have been cruel and the land's customs strange, but I could grow used to it. Maybe I could even learn to enjoy it._

_But you, of course, had other ideas. A thousand curses on your darkling slipstri friend for telling you how to get back! I tried to dissuade you. Didn't you realize you were on the run? Didn't you remember your terror, your despair? I hardly thought you would consider what sort of position you'd be putting me in by returning, but I had hopes that your common sense, such as it was, would tell you to save your own worthless hide—and mine with it. But of course, you didn't listen. You had an idea in your vacuous little head, and you were ready to pursue it to your own destruction._

_Next I know, we're back here. And not running, like you should have, you walk right back into civilian life as though you honestly thought you could blend in. Foolish, but I thought there was still hope. Maybe you would go unnoticed. Maybe the watchers would not learn of your return for a while, would no longer care. Ah, but of course not. You were determined to make a splash. Get them searching for you again. No, not even get them searching—walk right up to them and practically turn yourself in. You wanted to stick your arm into the hornets' nest, you stupid human. There was no way you could escape their notice, going to Saltmarsh._

_And again, I told you not to go. I made it very clear that it was a bad idea, I think. So what could I do? I couldn't run away from you, unless it was to get reinforcements. They would only find me and punish me for not aiding their search. I couldn't just walk in there with you—that would be suicide! So I gave you up. I have no intention of dying for you, human._

_So there it is. I gave you every opportunity to save yourself. I only ever looked out for your well-being. When I could have turned you in and been rid of you, I held my tongue; when I could have sent you into a trap, I refrained; I fought for you, I followed you, I kept my loyalty to you above my loyalty to a psychic's honor and duty. Why, I honestly don't know. Perhaps I was the fool all along, to grow attached to you against my better judgment. _

_And how did you repay me? You ignored me. You refused to understand what I was saying. You accused me of spite and malicious intent. So. I hope you enjoyed your happy little world where everything would be all right if you just kept running. I hope you enjoyed your delusions of safety and comfort. I hope that blocking out everything that didn't agree with your fantasies gave you relief. You walked straight into their hands, despite my best efforts. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. It's only to be expected, after all, when one tries to help a darkling._

Tobias had heard enough. By now, the anger stirring his insides was churning madly about, mingled with fear and horror. It couldn't be true—no, it_wasn't _true! He'd never treated Accemenla badly. She was just one of the team. And all she had ever done was turn her temper on him. Of course he'd never trusted her! What had she ever been but treacherous? And now there she was, gloating and trying to pass herself off as some sort of hero. No. She couldn't do this to him, they couldn't do this to him, just because he was a… a… darkling!

Rage boiling over, Tobias stepped forward, grabbing at the bars with sweat-slicked palms, his face stopping barely an inch from Accemenla's. She didn't even blink, and his wild eyes stared straight into hers. When not alight with psychic powers, they were a very pale, icy blue, and Tobias could see his desperate expression reflected in them. "What am I?" he screamed. "Why do you care? Why are you doing this to me? _What am I?_"

Although Accemenla's ears went back a bit, offended by the excessively loud noise, she otherwise made no response. Their gazes locked, they stood frozen there for a moment, until at last Accemenla said, very slowly, _You know what you are. You're known it from the beginning. You just don't want to know really, or don't want to admit it. The only person who can hide that from you is yourself, you poor… stupid… human._

"Hey! What's going on over there?" The acolyte had gotten over his temporary shock at Tobias's outburst and was now on his feet, glaring at the boy and the tarsix. Accemenla had been excluding him from the conversation, Tobias realized distantly, and now he said peevishly, "If you're going to talk about something, do it so I can hear."

_Certainly, _Accemenla said, her eyes temporarily flicking in the acolyte's direction. Tobias watched as the tarsix's chime swung gently back and forth from the end of her tail, clanking faintly. Maybe if he could just reach it, before she could react…

But it was no good. Even as the thought crossed his mind, Accemenla swung her tail out and away from the cell, the chime moving well out of his reach. It was almost as though the tarsix could read his mind.

Tobias smiled bitterly. Of _course _she could read his mind! She was a psychic, after all, and whatever she claimed, certainly a desperate plan like that would be something easy for her to pick up on.

Accemenla's eyes returned to Tobias's face. _So, human. This is goodbye,_ she said, a trace of feigned wistfulness tingeing her psychic communication. _I'll cherish the memories of our time together._She leapt backwards off the bars, landing about a foot and a half away from the front of Tobias's cell. _And here, a little present to remember me by. _The chime went from her tail to her hands in a flicker of motion, and the tarsix's eyes lit up their eerie, flat shade of blue. Psychic energy flickered along the runes etched into the surface of the chime, and it trembled as Accemenla imposed her will on it. Slowly, the bronze device began to collapse in on itself, crumpling and warping as though it were being crushed by a giant, invisible fist. Soon it had become nothing more than a hunk of twisted metal—one that Accemenla promptly hurled at Tobias with her mind rather than her hands. The boy let out a startled yell and went down on one knee as it struck him in the shin, while Accemenla merely smirked. _Yours to keep, my dear master, _she said. _It can hold me no longer._

With that, the tarsix turned about and left the room at a brisk trot, tail swishing triumphantly behind. The acolyte laughed unpleasantly and Tobias massaged his injured leg, tears of pain clouding his vision. The acolyte went back to sit down in his chair, but the medicham remained standing, arms crossed over its chest as it watched Tobias with a dull expression.

_Well, that wasn't childish at all, _Tobias thought, gingerly getting back to his feet. He kicked the remains of the chime away into the far corner of his cell then set to work rubbing tears out of his eyes. Stupid tarsix. The crumpled little ball of bronze lying half-hidden in the shadows reminded him altogether too much of his own life. The chime was worthless to him now, probably damaged beyond repair, the binding runes covering its surface warped and stretched grotesquely.

"So, whatcha got here?"

Tobias's head jerked up at the sound of the acolyte's voice. His jailer was looking thoughtfully at Tobias's pack. The boy turned to look at Tobias with a broad grin on his face. "Don't mind if I have a look, do you?"

"Don't," Tobias said dully, knowing that there was really no point.

The boy ignored him, upending the pack and dumping its contents onto the table. A great, clattering cascade of canned goods spread out across the wood, his guidebook landed with a heavy thud, and the innards of Tobias's pack spilled everywhere. The medicham's interest shifted and, curious, it watched as the acolyte began picking through Tobias's items. The boy considered the battered guidebook for a moment, then tossed it aside with a derisive snort. Shoving aside cans and spare clothes without interest, he turned his attention to Tobias's more exotic items.

"What's _this_?" he asked, turning Tobias's pokénav over in his hands, examining it from every angle. Tobias didn't respond. He was staring, transfixed, at one of the items that had been exposed: Igneous' pokéballl, sitting innocuously next to a can of tuna. The acolyte hadn't shown any interest in it yet.

Instead, he had pressed a couple of the pokénav's buttons and, when the turned-off device failed to respond, tossed it aside carelessly. He was beginning to repeat a similar process with Tobias's pokédex when the medicham reached over and plucked something out of the pile. It crinkled when the medicham picked it up, and the pokémon began investigating it, rubbing the strange material between its fingers. If the thin plastic mystified the medicham, no doubt it found the "Gulpin Grocer" logo printed on the bag's front even more strange.

The acolyte at first watched the medicham's experimentation with interest, but quickly grew bored and went back to sifting through Tobias's belongings. The hoard clearly had him mystified. After a few moments, he fished Igneous' pokéball out of the stack.

"Don't--" Tobias cried as the boy picked up the device, but he hastily bit off the rest of his sentence as the acolyte's head snapped around.

"Don't what?" the boy asked with interest, rolling the pokéball between his fingers.

"Nothing," Tobias said, deliberately lowering his eyes to the ground. It hadn't been swept in a while, he noticed. Inside, he was thrilling with anxiety, his heart beating fast. _Open it! _he thought desperately. _Open it, open it, open it! Come on!_

The acolyte snorted. "Sure. What's so important about this thing, any—hey!" The boy had pressed the pokéball's button and promptly dropped it when it suddenly quadrupled in size. He let it lie where it had fallen, but continued to inspect it from all angles, more intrigued than ever.

"It's nothing. Nothing important," Tobias said, a little too quickly. He knew he was no actor and that he was taking a risk with his clumsy attempt at reverse psychology, but the sight of Igneous' pokéball had rekindled hope in his breast, and he fanned that flame eagerly. Iron bars would be no match for the magmar.

"Yeah, sure," the acolyte said skeptically and picked the pokéball up once more. After a few more seconds of inspection, which felt like an agonizing eternity to Tobias, the acolyte could find nothing else to do but push the button again. The pokéball burst open in a flash of released energy, falling from the acolyte's grasp as the boy threw his hands up to shield his face. Igneous settled rapidly out of the prismatic light, and the acolyte was presented with a pokémon the likes of which he'd never seen before. It seemed to be formed of living flame, glowing red-orange and with tongues of fire jetting from its head and tail. Vicious waves of heat rolled off its body, scorching the floorboards and causing the lacquer on the nearby table to bubble. The strange white sheet in the medicham's hands blackened and crinkled, releasing a horrible stench. The creature turned towards him, beady eyes glaring at him from beneath heavy brows…

The acolyte screamed and staggered back, nearly getting tangled in his chair in his haste to get away.

"Igneous! Igneous, over here! Get me out!" Tobias called, and the magmar whipped around to look at him. Tobias could see Igneous' eyes widen as the pokémon saw the bars and Tobias behind them. Even before he fully realized what was going on, Igneous began to move in Tobias's direction—

--and then hesitated. It was only for an instant, and the magmar quickly resumed his dash towards the cell, but it was enough to send a shock of anguish through Tobias's heart. For a moment Igneous had been considering leaving him there. And that, to Tobias, said more than any angry rant.

Subdued, he stepped back from the bars as Igneous approached. The magmar aimed a powerful punch at the door, hand flaring up into a ball of flame, and struck the lock with a forceful blow.

The fire punch left nothing but a lump of cooling slag, but as Tobias reached out to push the door open, the magmar let out a cry and fell forward, sending Tobias scuttling back again at speed. The fire-type, who had been struck from behind, recovered quickly, pushing himself off the bars. They had begun to drip molten metal, glowing about the edges as Igneous rounded on his new opponent. From his bill drifted a cloud of noxious fumes, and the medicham, which had fallen back, nursing burned knuckles, choked and gagged as the smog surrounded him. Igneous closed with the weakened pokémon, grim purpose in his every movement, and Tobias prodded gingerly at the bars of his door to see if they had cooled.

Though still warm, they were safe to touch, at least, and Tobias forced the ruined door open, stepping out into the choking smog. His eyes burned, and even as he tried to cover his mouth and nose with his shirt, he coughed harshly. The foul haze was starting to clear up, at least. Igneous had dealt the medicham a hefty blow with a fire punch, but now the magmar grunted and froze, muscles straining futilely in the grip of a psychic attack.

Tobias hurried over to the table and began hurriedly stuffing his possessions back into his bag. In the heat of his escape, his despair had been forgotten, and he shoved items into his pack at a respectable pace, despite his watering eyes and the occasional dry cough as the smog continue to irritate him. In went 'dex and now 'nav, and guidebook, too. Clothes… he started scooping great swaths of cans back into his bag, the clatter sounding loud even over the pokémon battle. As he was stuffing fistfuls of canned food away into safety, something caught him a heavy blow from the side. He crashed to the ground in a spray of canned ham and realized too late that he'd forgotten about the acolyte.

The boy tried to pin him down, apparently recovered from his shock and exposure to smog. Tobias was no fighter, and though his time out traveling had given him some strength, his struggles were mostly no more than random outpourings of desperate instinct. The temple boy was slowly but surely overpowering him, though he grunted now and again as one of Tobias's blows hit home. For a second, the command was on Tobias's lips. Igneous, he needed Igneous' help! But he stopped himself in time. _No_, he thought, _not again. _He was still paying for his last mistake.

His outlook seemed bleak until the door opened. For an instant, all fighting stopped, eight eyes going to the acolyte in the doorway. He looked just as stunned as the combatants to find the prisoner escaped, locked in combat with the guards.

Tobias recovered slightly faster than his opponent. Wriggling around, he brought his elbow back as he could into the acolyte's face, then struggled up from the boy's dazed grip, half-falling against the table as he scrambled to grab what he was looking for. Found Jinx's chime, found Igneous' pokéball. Kicked the acolyte in the stomach as he started to recover.

The boy's companion was not similarly incapacitated. His hand went to a chime even as Tobias recalled Igneous, wrapped his arms around his pack, and grabbed his belt.

"Ranfulgar!" the other acolyte roared, and the clang of his chime rang discordantly against the peal that heralded Jinx's release.

Tobias hardly waited for the murkrow to appear before grabbing the surprised bird and yelling, "Jinx, go! Faint attack! Faint attack!" Behind him, an electric sizzle, a roar.

Tobias glanced back and got only the briefest impression of a huge form, muscles flowing along legs longer than Tobias was tall, light glittering off huge fangs, electricity popping and snapping as it leapt through a great mane composed of tangled steel cables.

Then Jinx let out a startled squawk. The shadows twitched, shifted—then leapt up to consume them both.


	38. Darkling

**Chapter Thirty-Eight: Darkling**

"And they escaped?"

"Yes, the boy called out his murkrow, and they just _went. _Disappeared. It was a faint attack."

"They escaped from you a second time."

"It wasn't _my _fault!"

The boy had grown taller since the last time, and more brazen as well. But though he clenched his fists and glared at the back of his superior, who was turned to face the window, he was still afraid. The faint tremor in his hands, the strain in his face, told more than all his brave words. Nothing, really, had changed.

The xatu looked on in silence. Before their eyes, past and present shifted; there was no difference at all. This had happened before, would happen again.

"Then who is to blame for this?"

"It was that dumb kid," the acolyte said eagerly. "I don't even know his name. What is it? Aaron? Eric? Something? Anyway, it was his job to guard the guy. I only got there when he was about to leave."

"And neither you nor Ranfulgor could stop the prisoner from going."

The hulking pokémon himself was conspicuously absent from the room. The Master did not consider pokémon deceitful or incompetent; when there was a failure, it was the result of human error. The xatu's eyes met briefly, thoughts as ever in perfect synch. It was a serious misunderstanding, but a convenient one.

"_No_!" The boy was starting to sound frustrated. "I told you, there was no time! You can't stop a faint attack, anyway. I can't follow—"

"What is that in your hands?"

"Huh?" The boy paused, trying to shift gears and only half-succeeding. He looked down at the twisted lump of metal in his hands. "It's just the tarsix's chime. She destroyed it, I guess. I was just going to see if I could get something for it."

"Put it on my desk, then get out."

The boy glanced down at the warped chunk of bronze, then over at his Master's back. The man was still gazing out of the window, aloof as ever. For a moment, he hesitated—but then became aware of the eerie gaze of the xatu upon him. Hurriedly, he started forward and set the remains of the chime down on the Master's desk with a faint clank, then beat a hasty retreat.

Once the door had closed, the Temple Master whirled around and stalked over to his desk, cold fury etched across his face and his mouth set in a tight-lipped frown. He picked up the deformed chime and turned it over in his hands, running his fingers over the warped runes and crumpled metal. Slowly his wrathful expression was replaced by one of careful contemplation.

After several minutes, he spoke. "The tarsix, is she still here?"

_Yes, _the xatu answered. _In the room you provided. Sleeping._

The Master nodded absently. "And the summons?"

_Sent yesterday. They will be here soon; they dare not delay._

The man did not respond, merely rolling the chme's remains between his hands for another moment before his head snapped up and he fixed the nearer of the two xatu with a cool gaze.

"See to it that the tarsix sleeps on. I am going to see the bellmaker."

* * *

At first, nothing seemed to happen but a few spots drifting across his vision. He could see the lion-pokémon's face in awful detail, every muscle in its tense snarl and the faint scars in the short fur of its muzzle. See the bolt building up in the twisted wires of its mane. Then, suddenly, it all changed. It was not that anything shifted or transformed, but only that he was seeing it in a different way, a whole new world jumping out from the cracks in the old one like a vase leaping out from the empty space between the profiles of two faces in one of those old optical illusions.

Now he saw the shadows instead of the options. The dark leapt at him, crawling inside his eyes and outlining the scene. Now it was the room itself that was the shadow, a blurry smear cast on the walls where the shadows were obstructed. Looking around was like reading a book by examining the space between the letters; it was like understanding speech by listening to the silences in between the words. He saw the thunderbolt leap forward, the jagged shadow of light streaking across the floor, but though it passed straight through him, he felt nothing.

After a moment, he realized he couldn't _hear _anything, either; it was not a comforting silence, but an absolute, oppressive nothingness that pressed in upon his eardrums. Tobias would have clapped his hands over his ears, but he realized then that he was still holding onto Jinx, and that they were beginning to move.

The scene around Tobias flowed and changed as he watched. One moment the acolyte was lying on the floor; the next, he was seated at the table again, picking through Tobias's items. The thunderbolt was launched, then zipped back towards its caster. Sometimes, it seemed to be moving both outwards and inwards at once. Tobias even saw _himself_—standing in his cell, then fighting with the acolyte… once, he even saw himself standing there as the thunderbolt struck, collapsing to the floor in a twitching heap, only to suddenly be in his cell again, falling as Accemenla's chime struck him in the shin…

Then they were leaving, flying straight through a wall that vanished even as they passed through. Tobias found himself dangling out over the city, which was performing its own crazy dance of time as buildings appeared and vanished. People and pokémon scurried through the shifting streets. Sometimes, the city wasn't there at all, just endless marshland stretching off to the ocean.

The only thing that wasn't changing Tobias's own form. Looking down, he was relieved to see that he looked the same as ever, or at least as he thought he ought to look in this shadow-twisted place. A paroxysm of fear made him jerk his head up, but Jinx was still there, and the murkrow was solid, too. The strange anti-light made his feathers, usually pitch black, glow against the madly roiling sky. Jinx's wings beat steadily, and Tobias wondered if the murkrow had any idea where he was going. He hadn't told Jinx where to take him, he realized, with another shock of fear.

Worse, a strange, persistent ache was starting to build in his bones, and the land below them was looking less and less like Waytar, or anywhere Tobias knew, for that matter. The ground bubbled and seethed with teeming forms: trees, people, pokémon, buildings, all dissolving into one another and swirling around in a distorted nightmarescape.

As the ache escalated to a burning, Tobias realized that that was what this place most resembled—a nightmare. If there were any rules to it, it was that these were as fluid as the swirling ground itself, and everything was running out of order and without rhyme or reason. The only constants seemed to be himself and Jinx, though as Tobias watched, he thought he caught sight of other glowing forms flitting ghostlike through the madness. Were they other travelers like himself and Jinx? Actual things that lived in this…place?

He didn't know, and speculation was soon driven from his mind by stabbing pain. It felt as though his bones were on fire, every part of his body crying out in agony. The twisting, malleable landscape around Tobias only added nausea to his list of complaints. Hot tears sprang to Tobias's eyes. He felt as though he was going to explode, his temples pounding mercilessly. And still Jinx showed no sign of stopping.

Tobias had no sense of time in this weird place and had no idea how far behind they might have left their pursuers, but he didn't care. He couldn't stand it any longer. "Jinx!" he screamed, "Jinx, stop! Get us out of here! It hurts! Jinx, _stop_!"

But to Tobias's horror, nothing came out of his mouth. Even his loudest shout couldn't penetrate the strict silence of the heavy atmosphere. Perhaps the murkrow heard him, though, because Tobias was made to endure only a couple heartbeats more of the awful, head-rending pain before the world _shifted_ and light flooded back into his grateful eyes.

For a few moments, Tobias could only revel in the harsh shock of cold air against his burning face, and the familiar, concrete world around him. The pain even receded a bit, though it far from vanished.

His relief dissipated, though, as soon as he realized that he was several feet above the ground, suspended only by the frenzied flapping of a bird who only came up to his knee and, as a result, falling fast.

Though Jinx tried madly to keep the both of them in the air, the laws of physics simply would not have it—and it wasn't long before Tobias became forcibly reacquainted with the earth.

As Tobias lay on the ground in a pained daze, Jinx wriggled out of his grasp and stalked a few feet away before settling down, in a huff, to rest. Pain was enough to keep Tobias frozen for several seconds, but he was grateful to find, with his first tentative movements, that the fall hadn't been terribly damaging. He'd fallen fast, but not that far, and his complaining body at could at least move.

Trying to get his breath back and think through his pounding headache, Tobias for one wild moment thought that he had cracked his head open—but then realized that the red smear on the grass near his face was just the result of a bloody nose. It was hard to tell where the pain from the journey ended and the pain from the fall began, but after a few minutes of lying still he began to feel a little better.

Groaning, Tobias got back to his feet and looked around. They had landed at least a reasonable distance from Saltmarsh. The city was nowhere in sight, and Tobias reckoned that he could see quite far. He was surrounded on all sides by plains, which stretched out in subtle hillocks as far as he could see in all directions.

Less comforting was the fact that the plains were _all _he could see. Not only was Saltmarsh nowhere to be found, but there wasn't any sign of human habitation whatsoever. Worse, cold autumn night was coming on, and the plains were open and unsheltered. Tobias was too drained and in pain to worry about this for long, though. Dragging himself down into a small dip in the land where he hoped he might be able to avoid the worst of the wind, Tobias called out Igneous, scooted as close to the magmar as he thought was wise, curled up, and went to sleep.

* * *

The next day dawned chilly and gray, and though Tobias felt much better, he was ravenously hungry, stiff, and still ached everywhere from sleeping out on the cold ground. After chewing down a couple of cans of food, cold, and stretching a bit, Tobias reflected that it really could be worse. It was a nice enough day, and he'd managed to escape immediate danger, after all.

He was without a compass or any sort of landmark towards which to orient himself; he had no idea of where he was in relation to Saltmarsh or even where he was in general. He was obviously out on the plains, but those took up most of Waytar's interior. As such, he was happy enough to just pick a direction and set off walking. He tried to ask Jinx where they had been going and how he could get there, but the murkrow merely gabbled a bit of nonsense in response and flew off for a bit. So Tobias just walked.

To his surprise, the trek wasn't a long one. It couldn't have been midday by the time he spotted the small town, huddled out in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by small farms, and early afternoon had just passed by the time he reached it. All the same, dread was given more than enough time to build inside him before he set foot in the dusty town square, or what passed for one out in the middle of the desolate plains.

He'd thought the place looked familiar from a distance, and he had only grown more certain during the long approach. Maybe, he even thought, he had actually recognized the plains around here on some subconscious level and known the right way to go out of deep-seated instinct. Whatever the case, he was now sure: he was home.

Well, home was a sort of relative term. The farm was still a ways off down the road, and he'd hardly ever come into town as a kid. Nevertheless, his throat felt tight as he looked around at the quiet main street. A few people were out and about, but none seemed to be paying him any attention. Tobias recalled Jinx anyway, feeling the same old fear bubbling up again. Would someone here recognize him? No… no, it had been three years, after all. He had never really come into town, hadn't he just remembered that? Most of his old friends lived on the outskirts, relatively far from here. Who knew where they might have gone off to by now, anyway? They'd be apprentices and presumably working under some craftsman somewhere.

But his family—should he go see them? Hope and dread warred for supremacy in Tobias's chest as he considered the possibility. Would they want to see him? By now, they must certainly think he was dead. And if he showed up, would they even welcome him? What if they believed the reports, that he was a pokémon abuser and had almost killed that officer? What if they were… gone?

Too late, Tobias realized that about the most suspicious thing he could be doing was standing in the middle of the square, staring around with a stupefied expression on his face. And someone had taken notice—someone he recognized and someone, he realized with a thrill of horror, who recognized him as well. Madam Truealder was striding purposefully towards him, the deep purple robes of a master guide sweeping around her legs beneath a thick coat.

Tobias's eyes widened and he took a step back, but it was too late. He couldn't escape now, not without drawing even more attention to himself. "Ah, Tobias!" Madam Truealder hailed him, hurrying to close the gap between them. "It's been a long time! Finally decided to come visit, did you?"

Tobias found that some sort of mental block had interposed itself between his brain and his mouth; though all sorts of useless excuses were shouting to be voiced, Tobias found himself incapable of speaking, unable even to move. He was rooted to the spot as Madam Truealder swept up to him. She looked much the same as he remembered, though there was a bit more gray in her hair and a few more lines around her eyes. The eyes themselves were as bright and intense as ever, though, and her face had all the same severe angles as before.

"My, but you've grown! I'm sure you must have all sorts of interesting things to tell me about your adventures."

"I-I…gchtgk…" Tobias choked. Madam Truealder paid him no attention.

"But this is no place to talk! Look at you—you must be terribly cold, and tired and hungry from your journey, too. Come now, we'll have tea at my home." Her hand descended upon his shoulder and seized him in a grip that Tobias could feel even though his ridiculous coat. His bulging eyes focused on the hand as though it were some deadly, venomous snake. "I won't take no for an answer."

Before he could react, Tobias found himself being dragged along after Madam Truealder, staggering along in a terrified daze. "N-not…necis-neciss…I'm g-good…" he attempted, aware that his mouth still didn't seem to be working right. His mind was fixed on his last memories of Madam Truealder: receiving his guidebook and Jinx; the other children recoiling as his starter was revealed; and always there in the shadows, the alakazam, eyes closed but mind perpetually watching.

Wherever he ran, they found him. It was useless. Dejected and lost in thought, Tobias allowed himself to be towed along without further protest.

It wasn't long before they had reached Madam Truealder's house. Inside, Tobias found that it had changed about as much as its owner. Perhaps it was a little more worn about the edges than it had been, but it was still the same shadowy, stark, and mysterious place as ever.

There was a distinct difference, though: no alakazam waited to greet the master guide and her dismayed guest. Instead, a xatu sat quietly in the middle of the hall, favoring Tobias and Madam Truealder with an expressionless stare.

"Now, the dining room is just in here on the right. Ataren, if you would." The xatu shuffled aside to allow Madam Trualder to shove Tobias past and into what proved to be, in fact, the dining room. It was marginally brighter than most rooms in the house, with a fairly large window set into one wall to allow the afternoon sunlight in. Madam Truealder pressed Tobias into a seat at the large table that dominated the center of the room. The xatu quietly followed them in and settled itself just inside the doorway, unblinking eyes trained on the two humans.

"Now, would you care for a bit of tea?" Tobias, still unable to manage a coherent sentence, just shook his head.

"Don't be silly. It's awfully cold out there—and you look so pale. You could do with a bit of warming up." With a smile that chilled Tobias's blood, she disappeared into the kitchen. Tobias was left sitting alone, giving a thorough inspection to a knot in the grain of the tabletop. The dining room wasn't much, really; the table was large and well-made, but it was plain, and aside from the window, the effect was less of luxury than of simple utility. Even a Master Guide didn't have much in the way of comfort, out here in Firstseed.

Even as his restless gaze roamed around the room, thoughts of escape whirring in his head, Tobias knew it was futile. The xatu was a tangible presence, and Tobias fancied he could feel its eyes burning into his back as he sat there, pointedly looking everywhere but at it.

His thoughts strayed back to his most recent escape. Maybe, if he was fast enough, he could have Jinx out and be away before the xatu could stop him. But memories of that awful, full-body pain and the hellish shadow world—if it was even a world—counseled against trying. Could he stand to risk going there again? Could he risk not to try?

Tobias's fingers wandered towards the chime on his belt, but even as they closed around the ring at the top, Madame Truealder returned with the tea. Tobias guiltily yanked his hand away and stared at the tray the master guide set down at the middle of the table. It certainly didn't _appear _very sinister: a tarnished silver teapot at the center and two cups, with a stack of small, sticky-looking cakes on the side. Madam Truealder, still acting oblivious to his confusion and distress, poured tea for both of them and set a cup in front of Tobias before taking up a position opposite him.

"So," she said in a pleasant tone, "how have you been?"

Tobias at last found his voice with the aid of anger. "How do you _think _I've been?" he cried. "You—you people keep trying to _kill _me! I've been running away since forever, and I don't even know why! And stop pretending you're my friend. I know you're only pretending, so just say what you want and get it over with!" Trying to steady himself, Tobias took an angry gulp of the tea, only to immediately regret it as the searing-hot liquid scalded the inside of his mouth. While his eyes watered and he tried to maintain his composure, Madame Truealder merely gave him a sardonic look, eyebrows slightly raised, as she took a sip of her own tea.

"I suggest," she said quietly, setting her teacup down, "that you learn the difference between your friends and your enemies."

"Yeah, right," Tobias snapped back. "All you psychics are crazy. Why can't you leave me alone?"

"Because your starter is murkrow," Madame Truealder said simply.

"But why does that matter?" Tobias asked helplessly.

"Because," Madame Truealder said, "the bond between a guide and his or her first pokémon is stronger than any other. The psychic selection process doesn't just match human and pokémon, it ties mind to mind. As the two of them grow together, the sympathetic bond only grows stronger. You bleed into one another. The human becomes more like a pokémon, and the pokémon becomes more like a human. Guides of fire-types gain a resistance to heat and an aversion to water; guides of flying-types will find themselves growing lighter and more delicate, with temperaments to match their partner's. Guides of dark-types gain an immunity to psychic manipulation and, some say, may even learn to travel through the shadows." She took another deliberate sip of tea, eyes trainer on Tobias's face and a faint smile at her lips.

It took a few moments to fully register what he had heard. Then, "So you mean I'm turning into a pokémon? A _dark-type _pokémon?"

"Of course not," Madame Truealder said, her brow furrowing. "The transfer of characteristics takes a very long time to progress, and humans can never gain more than a tiny fraction of a pokémon's power. You may gain some dark-type characteristics, but you are certainly not about to turn into a murkrow."

Tobias was trembling beneath his outsized clothes. Not only had being given Jinx made him an outcast, sent him on this whole crazy journey, but it was actually _changing _him, turning into someone else. Not even someone else, some_thing _else. _Maybe… maybe I really am a monster. What if they're chasing me, and hunting me, because I actually am dangerous? _

But he didn't _feel _different. He didn't think he was evil. He didn't want to hurt anybody! _It can't be true!_

Madame Truealder was watching him closely, and again Tobias became aware of how alive her eyes looked in that old face. "That's why they fear you, you know," she said. "They can't control you like they can control the others. They can't hear your thoughts; by now, they probably can't delve into your mind. Their attacks cannot hurt you. You can travel beyond their reach, see through their illusions…"

But Tobias had heard enough. "Their attacks can't hurt me? I almost _died _when an alakazam tried to use psychic on me!"

"You didn't die, however. And that is notable. The immunity takes some time to build. The amount of dark energy in your body will increase slowly with time; you cannot cope with too much of it at once. Dark energy is corrosive, and your resistance to it must be built up gradually. If a great deal of it was needed to protect you from a high-level psychic attack, then it would have harmed you even as it prevented your death. You will always feel psychic attacks to some extent, but not as much as an ordinary person."

Tobias slumped back in his seat. As quickly as rage, fear, and confusion had flared up, they had burned themselves out. _An ordinary person. I'm not an ordinary person anymore. _He felt drained, hollow—it was too much. _It can't be true. _"So you did this to me," he said dully, not even sure if he meant the statement as an accusation or just an observation.

"All of our guides are this way," Madame Truealder said, voice turning stern. "It is what they are. And I did nothing—Zialfor chose for you."

For a moment, Tobias couldn't connect the name to anything. Then he remembered the half-shadowed form, the perfect stillness as it distributed chimes—distributed destinies, he realized. "Zialfor—where is he now?"

Madame Truealder waited long enough for the silence to be uncomfortable, and when he at last worked up the courage to meet her eyes, she told him straight to his face. "Dead."

Tobias found that he still had enough room for shock in his empty heart. "Dead? But… how?"

Madame Truealder shrugged and sipped some more tea. "Executed. Aiding dangerous criminals and disregarding duty. It was almost three years ago."

Aiding dangerous criminals… that was him. They had executed Zialfor for giving him Jinx? And this duty they were talking about… Accemenla had mentioned something like that, too. About how he had endangered her, that she should have turned him in earlier. She had even said earlier that she couldn't read his mind, that no one could. She hadn't been bluffing, then. If he really was becoming some sort of dark-type human, then maybe it was true. _No! I'm just me! It's not my fault. I didn't want to hurt anybody… not because of me. It's not true!_

"But why?" he asked. "He knew he would get in trouble. So why did he give me Jinx? I didn't want this!"

"Zialfor believed very much in doing his duty, and doing it well. His duty was to pair new guides with the pokémon that best suited them. Some might have said that he should have given something else to the 'undesirables,' kept them from becoming true guides. But that was not the way Zialfor saw it. He did what he thought was right, not what was safest for him."

"Maybe it looked like it was right to him, but it wasn't right for me."

A flicker of anger shattered the calm façade Madame Truealder had been wearing. "Zialfor was a wiser soul than you know, child. He didn't hesitate to die for you. Don't question what he did."

Tobias thought it would have been better for everyone involved if Zialfor hadn't felt so righteous. If this was what it meant to be a "real guide," he would have preferred to remain a farmer. "I didn't want—" he began.

"That is of no consequence," Madame Truealder snapped. "What is done is done. You cannot deny what Zialfor gave you—what he died to give you. You are a darkling now, and nothing you can do will change that."

That word again—darkling. "What can I do? They're hunting me, and I only just managed to get away the last time. And now you've found me. Are you going to help me or not?"

"Help you, of course. Eat something," Madame Truealder said. She pushed the tray closer to him and watched as he took one of the cakes and bit into it, tasting nothing in his preoccupation. "I wouldn't want Zialfor to have died for nothing, after all. You'll succeed if I have anything to say about it."

"Succeed at what?" Tobias bit off another piece of the cake, chewing mechanically.

"Surviving, of course."

Oh, wonderful. Surely he had more to look forward to than just managing to stay alive? "So tell me why they're hunting me, then. Is there any way you know of to keep them away?"

"_Why _is a more difficult question than you might think. There are many different reasons, but the most obvious is that you are a darkling, and therefore a danger. Any guide who begins with a dark-type pokémon is, but there are only three dark-types given to new guides: stunky, sneasel, and murkrow. Blubble may eventually gain a dark aspect when it evolves into slipstri, but blubble guides cannot develop the normal dark-type resistances because their starter was pure water. Stunky cannot swim, and while sneasel can, salt water offends its ice element and it is too small to carry a human far off shore. Murkrow, though, can fly, and their faint attack can take them over great stretches of terrain with little difficulty."

"So?" Tobias stuffed the rest of the cake in his mouth and glared.

"The Shield is generated by psychic-types and therefore has no power over dark guides of even a low level of power. Murkrow, though, is the only starter who has the power to carry a guide through the shield, and therefore they are feared most of all. Such guides can travel to the land beyond Waytar, the world that the Psychic Temple's master works so hard to keep a secret. Perhaps they might even return, as you have done, to spread the word and undermine the Temple's power. More than that, however, is the fact that those who can pass through the shield may also destroy it."

"What?" Tobias forgot that there was food in his mouth and let his glare shift into a wide-eyed look of confusion. The thought that it was even possible to bring down the Shield, much less that _he _could, seemed enormous. That he could threaten something that had stood for centuries and withstood the attack of the world's most powerful creatures; in an uncomfortable flash, his encounter with Raikou returned to him, and he shivered. The big cat's scorn for Waytar, too, resurfaced. Was it true that the Shield could be no protection against what was coming?

"Yes," Madame Truealder said gravely. "Perhaps you have seen the plaque that hangs above my doorway, the one that talks about the six pillars?" Tobias didn't think he had, though he was immediately reminded of another plaque he _had _come across. Cursing his lack of observance, he shook his head.

"No? Well, what it says is that there are six pillars upon which Waytar stands, and if its people ever abandon the principles on which it was built, the shield will crumble and our land will be destroyed. This is not true, of course, but it is a belief that has arisen from fact. When Waytar created the shield, he sealed extremely powerful psychic pokémon in six huge pillars of rock around the edge of the continent. Do you have your guidebook with you?

"Err, yes," Tobias said, reaching down to rummage in his pack a moment before coming up with the heavy book and setting it on the table. Madame Truealder eyed it with distaste.

"What happened to the book _I _gave you?" she asked.

"Well, it got really, really wet, and I couldn't read it anymore. This was the best I could find. Sorry."

"I'm surprised you could find one at all," Madame Truealder muttered. She reached over and unfolded the map inside the front cover. "Now, you see the World's Teeth, here? There are six that are much larger than the others, and all have names."

Tobias watched Madame Truealder's finger as it traced an irregular ring around Waytar, running over several of the large spires she had described. Tobias squinted at the small, faded words printed beneath them—one was labeled "Courage," another, "Obedience." He nodded, eyes still trained on the map.

"These six are the source of the Shield. The other World's Teeth merely amplify the power that they generate and help distribute it evenly around the continent. But if the six pillars were destroyed, the Shield would collapse. Which, I'm sure you realize, would be a disaster." Madame Truealder shot Tobias a piercing glance, and he quailed.

"Yes, right, of course."

"So, as a murkrow guide, you are dangerous. Now that you have seen the world beyond, you are still more dangerous. That is a secret that very few know, and in spreading around knowledge of the world beyond, you could do at least as much damage as if you literally destroyed the Shield—it is as much to keep people in as out."

"Why is it a secret, though?"

Madame Truealder sighed. "Another difficult question. In part it is because the outer world is a strange and dangerous place, and those who know if it, fear it. Another is simply what we have all been taught--that Waytar is the home of the purest and greatest of humankind, the sole survivors of an ancient war. If Waytar lost that belief, it would lose something of itself. And the world outside _does _seem to be tilting towards its own demise, if rumors are to be believed. Finally—and probably most important of all—is power. The higher-level psychics control almost every aspect of this land. Psychic-types are the most revered and influential, and their guides likewise. We are the caretakers of the Shield, responsible for the birth of this place; as such, we are feared and revered. No such awe is held by those of the outer world. Their admiration is for the legendaries, the very beasts that nearly exterminated them long ago."

Ah, yes, it _would _come back to power. The psychics could talk all they wanted about being the backbone of society, the keepers of justice and guardians of all under their care—Tobias had long since seen their other side. Voice laced with bitterness, he said, "So that's it. I'm not someone they can control, and I've seen through their lies, so now they're going to kill me if I make trouble."

"Maybe. At the least, they'll need to capture you or put you under constant watch."

Tobias was quiet for a few moments, staring blindly down at his tea. So there it was. He hadn't wanted to believe it—he still didn't, come to that—but there was no getting around it. The psychics really _were _out to get him. He'd always be running and hiding, trying to escape their gaze. Even if he returned to Johto or went even farther, to some distant region, they'd find him. Cass had done it. It might take them awhile, but they'd get to him eventually. He'd always be looking over his shoulder, just waiting for some red-haired, green-eyed person to appear, ready to rub him out of existence.

"You said you wanted to help me," Tobias said. "I hope you plan to say something comforting in the next couple of seconds, before you crush _all _my dreams."

Madame Truealder smiled. "Of course. There is one place where you can go, where you will not have to fear pursuit: the Dark Temple."

Tobias blinked. "The Dark Temple? I thought they made sure nobody ever built one?"

"Oh, it doesn't give out official medals or appear on maps, but it's there. The psychic masters realized long ago that they would need to have some place to keep the undesirables, where they wouldn't make trouble and where they could be watched. If you go to the Dark Temple, the psychics will know you are there, but they will not trouble you."

"So they'll stop chasing me as long as I keep still and quiet? Great."

"Don't be so ungrateful. I'm not about to tell you to go into hiding for the rest of your life. Zialfor wanted you to go beyond that, to become a proper guide. I am not about to dishonor him by advising you to flee from that destiny. Now, I know very little about you darklings; there are masters of your kind at the Dark Temple. If anyone can help you, it is them."

That didn't sound all _too _bad… assuming she was telling the truth. But why would she lie? Couldn't he trust anyone anymore? But she was one of them, a master psychic. They were cunning and deceitful and looked out for themselves, didn't they? But how could he be so mistrustful of Madame Truealder, who had taught him about guiding—and then sent him off into the world with Jinx, to be hunted down by her fellows?

It was all just too much. Tobias drained his tea, which was now tending towards tepidness. He didn't really have much choice. The Dark Temple it was, then. "Fine," he spat. "Where is this temple place, now?"

"It's out on the plains to the north of here, on the edge of the Lost Forest. But don't worry about finding it yourself—I can send you straight there."

"Thanks, but I'd rather walk," Tobias said. This was a lie, of course, but if he couldn't get out of the sights of the psychics entirely, he'd settle for at least getting shy of this one. "I'd like to see my family before I go, at least, and if it's just out on the plains, then it shouldn't be hard to get there."

"Your family isn't here."

Tobias's eyes darted around to Madame Truealder's face. "They're not here? What happened to them?"

"Don't look so worried. They left a couple of days ago. I'm not sure where they went or when they'll be back, but my point is that you cannot visit them now. And to walk to the Lost Forest would be extremely unwise. It's called "Lost" for a reason, after all; like the Dark Temple, it is not shown on any map. The plains are dangerous this time of year—do you really want to be out in the middle of nowhere, without shelter and with little food, in the middle of a storm? The snows will be coming soon, and I would guess that it would take you at least two weeks to reach the Dark Temple."

Tobias hardly heard her, preoccupied as he was by his family's absence. He still hadn't been sure whether he ought to visit them in the first place, but to know that he absolutely couldn't was distressing. That they would leave at all was strange, considering the time of year. Typically, the only reason they would leave town was to take their goods to sell in one of the neighboring towns. By this point, though, they should be busy making the farm ready for winter. That they should be gone now, with so many other strange things happening, seemed too odd to be a coincidence. Swallowing, his throat suddenly tight and dry, Tobias stared at Madame Truealder. Was she behind this?

The woman seemed to catch his mood. "Don't worry," she said. "I can send you to the Temple safely, and I will even give a message to your family when they return, if you'd like."

"Thanks… that's all right," Tobias said, swallowing again. What could he say to his family? How could he put anything important into just a couple of lines, brought to them by an outsider? "No, I guess I'll just have to let you send me to the temple like you said you would."

Madame Truealder beamed. "Ah, wonderful. But stay as long as you'd like. Would you like something else to eat? More tea?"

"No, I'm fine. Thank you. You've been very kind." In truth, Tobias just wanted to get away. Maybe he'd be able to think more clearly once he got out of this room, away from the xatu's watchful stare and that smiling woman. He was trapped, as trapped as he had been when caught behind bars.

Madame Truealder's smile dimmed, but she replied simply, "Very well. Ataren will take you, then. I assure you, he will take you directly where you want to go and ensure you reach there safely." She turned fierce eyes on the xatu, but the bird's only response was to shuffle stiffly forward, coming up beside Tobias's chair. He recoiled as the bird approached and tried to fight off a rush of fear.

The xatu watched him impassively, not indicating whether it had noticed his reaction. Tobias looked back wide-eyed. So, he would be teleported again. His first trip by teleport had been unpleasant, but at least it had been brief. I was too late to go back now, anyway.

"Good luck to you," Madame Truealder said as he hesitantly reached out towards one of the xatu's raised wings. She might have said more, but if so, Tobias didn't hear; he had only a moment to feel the stiff, rough feathers between his fingers before they—and all the world around him—vanished.


	39. The Dark Temple

**Author's Notes: **Looks as though I'm back after another long hiatus. Unfortunately, at this point, I don't remember what reviews for the last chapter I responded to, if any, and I would feel rather awkward sending out replies after almost a year. I would like to say, though, that I'm very grateful to all the people who took the time to leave me feedback and encouragement; I really have no excuse for leaving this story inactive for so long, and I swear it won't happen again. I hope that you like this chapter, and will continue to enjoy the remainder of the story.

**Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Dark Temple**

Madame Truealder reached for the teapot and refilled her cup, sipping thoughtfully as she watched the empty, pushed-back chair across from her. Then, as instantly as it had been vacated, the chair was occupied again. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought she'd let her eyes wander, so abrupt was Arvaren's return. One moment, there was nothing there; the next, a xatu perched on the edge of the chair, watching her. Madame Truealder said nothing, continuing to drink her tea. Eventually, the bird spoke.

_Why did you do it?_

Madame Truealder smiled, raising an eyebrow. "Did you take him where I asked?"

The xatu's eyes narrowed. _Of course. It served our interests best, after all. Surely you knew that. So why did you do it?_

"Surely you were taught not to ask such stupid questions."

The xatu's crest rose, angry life sparking in his usually blank eyes. _I was not trained to understand the reasoning of criminals,_ he hissed. _I merely wish to know why you would lie to the boy and send him away like that. What did you hope to accomplish?_

Madame Truealder shrugged and put down her teacup. "As for the lie, I simply saw no reason to tell him the reason his family had left. He was distressed enough as it was; if I had told the truth, he might not have gone fast enough—or worse, gone to them. What I hoped to accomplish was only what Zialfor began."

_He will not escape them there, you know. They will not let him go free. They may not even let him live._

Madame Truealder shrugged again and looked down at the table to hide her broadening smile. The xatu, anger relaxing into confused exasperation, watched her silently again for a time.

_You know the punishment._

Madame Truealder looked up, face serene. "Of course."

_Then you understand what I must do._

"I have only been waiting for you to do it since they sent you to watch me."

_Then why? Don't you value your life?_

"I've held no illusions about the value of my life ever since I began this journey."

The xatu was silent, pensive. Madame Truealder sighed. " 'Great Crow, Death's first messenger. All those who fall beneath the shadow of his wings have fallen into Death's sight.' Surely _you _can see that." She looked pointedly into the xatu's eyes—not those that had grown wide, staring out of his head, but those set into his chest, ever unblinking, their gaze eternally far away.

_I don't understand._

Madame Truealder's smile was sad. "You are still young. Let it puzzle you. If you remember and don't let them feed you their lies, perhaps you will live long enough to admit you were wrong."

It was barely a twitch, a moment of lax self-control, but the xatu moved, just before his wrathful expression was gone, and the rest of him as well. His chair was empty—and the one across from it as well. Silence fell heavy on the dining room, now unoccupied save for the cups and the cakes, with the teapot at their center, slowly cooling.

----

It didn't take Tobias long to remember why he hated teleporting. The trip itself didn't give him enough time for regret, but a split-second later, when his startled lungs took in their first gasp of icy, outdoor air, recollection rushed in. Dizziness and nausea rippled through his body, and he shut his eyes with a grimace, trying not to fall to his knees as the urge to vomit rose. Itching spread out beneath his skin, an insistent burning just short of an ache. The xatu cared nothing for his swaying and frowning; Tobias vaguely noticed it disappear from his side with a faint whooshing noise, but was too preoccupied with keeping himself from experiencing Madame Truealder's tea again in reverse to care much.

After a few seconds, the most intense discomfort had subsided and Tobias opened his eyes again, scratching at his left arm in vain hope of quieting the tingles that still shot through it. He surveyed his surroundings without much enthusiasm. It looked as though the xatu had brought him to the Dark Temple after all, or at least to _some _kind of temple. The building before him was large and austere, twin bell towers jutting up from the center of its steeply-sloped roof. A thicket of great trees clustered behind the place, raised branches mostly bare and twisted old trunks huddled together as though for protection. Tobias blinked, then turned around.

Behind him, lonely plains swept off into the distance, flat and featureless. The same lay both left and right. But straight ahead the quiet forest stood, dense grass running straight up to the roots of the trees before stopping dead as suddenly as though it had reached the edge of a precipice. More than the appearance of the massive, twisted old trees, Tobias found their sharp contrast with the rest of the landscape unnerving. What choice did he have but to go on, though? The moment he was out of sight of the temple, he would be utterly lost in the empty plains.

As he walked up to the temple's tall double doors, Tobias was pleased to realize that the headache that had been buzzing in his skull ever since the teleport was already fading. Perhaps the short distance the teleport had covered meant that it hadn't affected him as badly as the last he'd been through. Tobias shoved open one of the doors with a predictable squeak and a groan, then peered inside.

Surprisingly, the interior didn't reek of foreboding as much as the outside did. The foyer was smaller than the ones in the other temples he'd visited, but there was a fire blazing an ornate fireplace set into the far wall, and sunlight streamed through tall barred windows set to either side of the doors. The cushiony furniture scattered around the fireplace was empty, though, and if the gray pall of dust on the registry on the front desk was anything to go by, the place had seen no newcomers for quite some time.

Tobias let the door boom closed behind him as he started towards the fireplace, his eyes roaming around the room. It was decorated much the same as the common room in the Fire Temple had been, with large portraits of what were presumably temple masters and their pokémon lining the walls. There were many fewer here than there had been in the Fire Temple, though. Tobias's eyes passed over the picture of a pale, graying man and a sulky weavile, a woman and a gengar, and finally settled on a third portrait. The pokémon depicted here was one with which he was unfamiliar: it looked to be wrought entirely of fire, with a wedge-shaped head trailing back into a tangle of flaming streamers. It didn't have any limbs that Tobias could see, just a serpentine body and two huge, flaming wings. What really struck him, though, were the eyes: white irises surrounded on both sides by jet black. After a few moments of thought he dredged up memories of the Fire Temple and the demsindar he had fought there; this was probably its evolution. Tobias let his gaze linger a moment longer, then set it wandering again.

It took him a little while to realize that the man with the weavile was watching him. No matter where he went, the man's gaze was always trained on him. The hairs on the back of Tobias's neck rose, though of course he was sure it was only a trick of the painting, and a common one at that.

Why hadn't anyone come for him? Hadn't they heard the door?

What if the people who had lived here were gone for some reason? Maybe Madam Truealder had tricked him after all, and this place was no longer occupied. No, there was a fire going—someone _must _be here, somewhere.

After a couple minutes running his hands over the back of a tall armchair, thinking, Tobias felt he could stand it no longer. The weavile trainer's eyes were still on him, casting twin spots of cold between his shoulder blades. Maybe a closer inspection of it would put him at ease, he thought as he crossed to stand before it. At first it did—he saw nothing unusual about the portrait.

Then it blinked.

Tobias froze, heart working itself up to a frenzy as he tried to deny what he had just seen. Surely it couldn't--?

The picture blinked again. Its eyes rolled one way, then the other, scanning the room. Then they began to bulge grotesquely, even as the man's face twisted into a hideous smile, jagged fangs glistening in the firelight as his mouth opened wide. The hideous google eyes settled on Tobias, irises flushing a deep red, and a tongue flicked hungrily from the twisted mouth. Tobias was paralyzed with terror, mind locked into an incoherent scream to move, while his legs seemed convinced that staying in place and hoping not to be noticed was his best bet.

The portrait let out a high-pitched cackle, tongue lolling from its mouth and spit dribbling onto the canvas below. By now the entirety of the painting was rippling and shifting, the weavile at the demon-man's side shunted to the side by whatever evil force the thing was emitting. Before Tobias's terrified eyes, the apparition shuddered, gathering itself, then _lunged._

"Haunt haunt haunter!"

Once Tobias's dazed brain registered that he was still just terrified, as opposed to dead, he was able to recognize the thing in front of him as a pokémon. A haunter, specifically, that was making faces at him as it bobbed up and down barely six inches from his face. "Haunter! Ter haunter haunt!"

The portrait had returned to normal. Without his heart hammering in his ears to distract him, Tobias realized that the haunter had been hiding there all along, and that there was nothing sinister about the painting itself—well, nothing that he _knew _of, anyway. Terror fading to irritation, Tobias backed up a step and snapped, "Yeah, real funny!"

The haunter, which had been exhibiting the malleability of its face by rearranging it into a weird cubist configuration, was delighted to agree. It clapped its disembodied hands and rolled its eyes, tongue lolling from its mouth, which was now on the far right side of its face.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is she bothering you?"

Tobias turned to find that he was no longer the only human in the room. A middle-aged man in drab gray robes stood just inside a door leading deeper into the Temple, his eyes trained on the capering ghost.

"Uh," Tobias said, unnerved by the man's sudden appearance, as well as his age. "Well…"

The man sighed. "Come on, Gevlis. Leave the boy alone." The ghost cackled and turned a neat backflip before shooting sideways, weaving back and forth through the air as it approached the acolyte. "She means no harm," the man said as the ghost came to a halt, hovering beside him.

"Right," was all Tobias could think to say. He couldn't help but stare at the man and at the ghost by his side, who was currently sticking her tongue out at Tobias. Ordinarily, acolytes were teenagers or maybe in their early twenties; most had left by the time they were thirty out of disinterest or to pursue more knowledge of the pokémon type they had chosen. What if Madame Truealder was wrong, and he'd never get to leave this place at all?

"So, a guide, are you?" the man asked, splitting the awkward silence. "What brings you here? We're not very accustomed to visitors, as I'm afraid you can see."

Tobias realized that he had been staring a bit too openly and tried to cover it with a quick response, averting his gaze. "Oh, uh, no. Well, I am a guide, but I was sent here by the master who gave me my starter. I got a murkrow, and she told me I'd be safe here."

The man's eyebrows rose. "_Really_? A murkrow. Well, that certainly is interesting. Don't worry—there's plenty of room for you here, and I can guarantee that you'll be safe. Well, safe from all but the likes of Gevlis here. Now, if you'll just follow me, I'll see about getting you a room." The man turned away, but Gevlis remained where she was. The ghost's eyes rolled back to show only white and her tongue hung limply from her mouth.

Doing his best to ignore the ghost, Tobias followed after the acolyte reluctantly. He hadn't liked the way the man said that there was "plenty of room" for him. _He _certainly didn't want to hang around this place until he was old and dusty.

The man led Tobias into the maze of hallways. Tobias had grown accustomed to in temples, though in this case the acolyte didn't have to travel far to find a room that was unoccupied. "Here you are," the man said, gesturing to the nondescript door. "Now, dinner's in a couple of hours; would you like to settle in, or would you prefer to meet someone sooner to talk about what you want to do here?"

Though inwardly determined that no "settling in" would take place, Tobias thought he'd prefer some time alone to think over his situation. "I think I'll just go to dinner first. But before you go, would you mind if I asked you something?"

"Of course," the acolyte said. Behind him, Gevlis rolled her eyes. The ghost had been floating along behind the two guides, turning the numbers on the hall doors upside-down as she went along.

"If this is the Dark Temple, why have you got a ghost following you around?"

"Oh. Well, I guess this is less the Dark Temple than it is the Temple of Undesirables," the acolyte said with a chuckle. "Neither ghost types nor dark types are granted their own establishment within the league, and both kinds of pokémon are found in the Lost Forest. We both stay together here, that's all."

"Thanks," Tobias said. He guessed that made sense, though Gevlis' presence made him feel a bit uncomfortable. What else might be watching him from the walls?

"They start dinner at five-thirty every evening. To get to the dining hall, go to the end of this hallway and take a left. It's right at the end of the hall there; you can't miss it. I'll let one of the higher-ups know you've come; I'm sure they'll be anxious to meet you. But for now, I'll leave you to your own devices. Gevlis!" The ghost floated over without much enthusiasm.

"All right," Tobias said, and the acolyte smiled at him before starting off down the hall, ghost bobbing in his wake. Tobias watched him go for a minute, then turned around and headed into his room. It was nothing special and, being on the interior of the building, didn't even have a window. Tobias lit the lamp beside the bed and released his pokémon. He let even Igneous out—if there was a ghost hiding in his furniture or something, let it try and figure out _that_. Tobias flopped onto the bed, dislodging a cloud of dust. Chevron, of course, jumped up next to him and demanded some attention, while Jinx alighted on the headboard and began complaining about being recalled. Tobias ignored him and scratched Chevron's head. It was strange to just have three pokémon around; for a second, Tobias wondered why Accemenla wasn't prowling the room or harassing Jinx.

The rest of the team had taken her absence pretty well. All he'd told them was that he'd had to leave the psychic temple because there were still people after him, and that Accemenla had wanted to stay behind. He felt uncomfortable not telling them everything, but what he had said was _technically _true. And what more was he supposed to say, anyway? That Accemenla had told him that she hated him, that he had made her life miserable, and that she hoped to never see him again? In a way, he felt that the other pokémon had an idea that those were Accemenla's sentiments, but none of them had pressed him about it. Jinx, obviously, had been glad to see her go. Chevron had looked worried and confused when he'd first heard the news, but he seemed back to his normal self. And Igneous had barely reacted at all, of course.

It was the magmar doing the prowling today. Tobias noted with mild annoyance that the glow given off by the magmar's flames was brighter than the light shed by the flickering oil lamp; he could only hope that the room wouldn't be freezing without the fire type to warm it. Tobias's unease around the magmar had only increased since the incident at the Psychic Temple. Once, when the two of them were walking alone out on the plains, Jinx and Chevron out roaming, Tobias had asked the magmar if he wanted to be released. "I know that no other magmar live around here, and this isn't really the best place for you. If you want, though, I can let you go now, or I can try to get back to Johto and release you in Ecruteak," he'd said, or something along those lines.

The magmar had only given him one of his vaguely sad stares, then looked away and shrugged. It was maddening. Half the time, Tobias wished he could understand what was eating the magmar; the other half, he just wanted to punch him or something and tell him to get over himself. For now, all he really felt like was lying back and not worrying about it. Jinx's jabbering washed up against his ears in an almost soothing way. There had been no further incidents of Jinx "talking" since the Water Temple, and by now Tobias was convinced that he had just imagined it.

Time passed, and eventually the small clock on the wall showed that five-thirty was approaching. Tobias, who was by then growing restless, not to mention hungry, saw no reason to wait and hauled himself out of bed, awakening a dozing Chevron in the process. "Dinner, guys," Tobias said, attracting Jinx's attention. "I'll bring something back for you, Igneous."

The magmar nodded, still pacing restlessly. As he left the room, Tobias realized fleetingly that he had never seen Igneous sleep.

Tobias found the acolyte's directions more than adequate; after the first turn, he needed only the smell of food to guide him to the dining hall. With a bit of apprehension, he followed his nose and the faint murmur of voices. Like the foyer before it, Tobias found the hall to be smaller and emptier than its counterparts at the other temples he'd visited, though perhaps there just weren't many people interested in getting dinner at the earliest possible moment. And, Tobias realized with considerable disappointment, there didn't seem to be anyone within ten years of his age. There were gray robes and black, and pokémon of all varieties—even a cluster of stunky and skuntank eating off by themselves—but all of the humans looked much older than him.

As he was lingering on the threshold, one of the acolytes at the most populous table got up and started towards Tobias, a friendly smile on his face. "So you're the visitor?" he asked, stopping in front of Tobias and extending a hand. "The name's Darius. I'm the welcoming committee."

Tobias shook the man's hand numbly. Darius looked to be at least thirty, but he moved with the mischievous energy of someone much younger. "Well, come on. Don't be shy," the man went on. "There's plenty of room and just as much food, so why don't you and your pokémon join us?"

Tobias followed Darius back to his table and took the empty seat next to him, while Chevron clambered up onto the bench next to his guide and Jinx fluttered to the table. The murkrow's arrival attracted some attention and his appearance temporarily silenced the table, but conversation resumed quickly enough.

"Hey, Mark, can you get the kid some food, and his pokémon, too?" A gray-robed man who had just been leaving the table nodded reluctantly, then made himself scarce before anyone else could ask a favor.

"So, I hear tell you were sent our way by some master guide or something, is that right?" Darius began, ignoring the plate of food in front of him.

"Yes, the guide who gave me my murkrow," Tobias said.

"Ah, and that's him, I suppose," Darius said, watching as Jinx sidled towards a carelessly discarded fork. "Yup, murkrow guides; don't see many of them nowadays, don't see many. So, why'd this guide try to dump you on us, then?"

"She said you'd be able to tell me more about what it means to be a dark guide, and maybe be able to protect me from the people that are after me."

"People after you? Psychics?"

"Yeah, them," Tobias said, and reached out to lay claim to the fork before Jinx could abscond with it.

"Meddlesome bunch. Don't know how to leave well enough alone, they don't. But anyway, the first thing we can do for you, no problem. The second, well… that's a bit trickier. But hey, no time for talk now; your food's here."

Mark had returned, awkwardly trying to balance three plates. He thumped them down in front of Tobias and his pokémon in moody silence, then returned to his own seat without a word.

Tobias was a bit taken aback by how quickly Darius had dropped the subject, and by Mark's resentment, but he was hungry enough not to worry too much. The food was good, as it had been at every other temple he'd visited, but as time went on, Tobias became aware that the acolytes were trying very hard not to talk to him. They kept up their conversations with one another, but they kept shooting curious glances his way or trailing off at odd moments, as though their attention was really only half on what they were talking about. It was like he was some exotic and touchy creature on display, Tobias thought, hunching his shoulders and trying unsuccessfully to disappear. He would feel better if they'd just outright gawk.

"So, feeling better?" Darius asked after a bit, when Tobias had slowed down to halfhearted nibbling at the remains of his dinner.

"Yeah. This is really good," Tobias said, a bit warily. Darius's cheerful, informal manner was almost unnerving.

"Well, if you're the only place to eat for miles around, you've at least gotta make sure the grub's good, right?" Tobias nodded and grinned weakly. "Right. Well, here's the deal. After dinner, I'm supposed to take you to see the top dark guide, Master Windriver. Mostly we don't use titles around here, though, so you can address her just like you would me, all right?"

Tobias nodded, deciding not to point out that, unless someone told him the woman's first name, he couldn't exactly be on a first-name basis with her. He cleared what remained on his plate and waited for Jinx to finish what was on his, resisting the urge to drum his fingers on the tabletop. The murkrow had been served some kind of raw meat, and he was picking away at it delicately—no doubt he was enjoying the very attention that Tobias was eager to get away from.

At last, all were sated and ready to go. "Here, I'll take these back to the kitchen for you," Darius said, sweeping the dishes Tobias and his pokémon had been using before the boy could protest. "Just head for the door and I'll catch up with you out in the hall." Before Tobias could so much as open his mouth to protest, the man had scurried off towards the kitchen. After tossing out an awkward affirmation, Tobias wandered out into the hallway, looking around for any sign of spying ghosts.

There were none, and Darius was swift to reappear. "This way, this way. Won't be long."

The master's office wasn't far from the dining hall at all, as it turned out—possibly an indication of her priorities. Darius knocked on the door and then, without waiting for an answer, opened it a bit and popped his head in. "New arrival here to see you, ma'am." So much for informality, Tobias thought.

"Send him in."

Darius shoved the door the rest of the way open, then shut it quietly behind Tobias and his pokémon after they filed inside. Tobias was surprised to find the master's office to be small and plain; it had a window with real glass, though, and a fairly large, if not very ornate, desk. Other than that, there wasn't much luxury to the room—there wasn't even a fire in the fireplace, and the room was distinctly chilly. This no doubt suited the pokémon seated next to the master behind the desk, a weavile that had been inspecting its claws until Tobias entered the room.

The woman herself surprised Tobias more than the room, though. She was _ancient_! The long hair that fell around her shoulders had lost any trace of its original red and turned an almost transparent white in the sparse light. Her face was unhealthily pale and deeply lined, and even her eyes seemed to have been bleached to a light gray. Her weavile looked old as well. Most pokémon lived longer than humans, and it was often difficult to tell their age, but the weavile's fur was lackluster and crisscrossed with old scars; its red crest was tattered and cracked, in one place showing a very clear bite mark.

"Well, boy, don't just stand there. Sit down."

Tobias realized he had been staring and, blushing furiously, slumped into the nearest chair. Jinx perched on its back and started preening; Tobias couldn't tell if he was really that nonchalant or just using the motion to cover his examination of the room and its occupants.

"So. You are the boy who was sent here by the psychics, am I correct?"

"Err, yeah," Tobias said.

"And that is your starter? The murkrow?" Jinx spared the woman a glance, then stuck his beak back in his feathers.

"Yeah, that's him."

"May I see him?"

"Umm… yeah, I guess." Tobias reached around and tried to get Jinx to climb onto his arm, but the murkrow just sidled away from him.

"That's all right. He can make it here by himself. Come here, Murkrow!" Tobias froze with his arm still extended towards Jinx, then withdrew it lamely, watching the murkrow all the while. Unsurprisingly, Jinx didn't move, merely fixing the master guide with a glare and screeching something that was no doubt rude. Tobias groaned inwardly.

The temple master didn't seem put out by this at all. She matched Jinx stare for stare and repeated, "Come _here_!"

The murkrow went. It was only a short hop over to the desk anyway, and he really did want to get a closer look at all the funny little baubles on the desktop. He wasn't afraid of the old human at all.

Tobias looked on with surprise as Jinx hopped into the air and was over at the desk in a couple of lazy flaps. Madam Windriver showed no sign of consternation and began scrutinizing the murkrow, prompting him to open and close his wings and submit to a bit of prodding. Tobias sat in awkward silence, acutely aware of the fact that Chevron had found something interesting in the carpet and was licking away at it, with no regard at all for decorum.

Jinx bore the inspection with a breezy, unconcerned attitude that suggested that he saw nothing unusual about the situation. "He seems moderately well cared for," Master Windriver pronounced at last.

"Moderately" was hardly as good as Tobias might have hoped for, but he found himself relieved nonetheless; at least the woman seemed mildly more receptive towards him now. "He is truly yours as well," she went on. "So you are no spy."

"Of course I'm not a spy!"

Master Windriver gave him a prolonged blank stare, and Tobias shrank under the gaze of those colorless eyes. When the woman spoke again, though, it was with a bit more warmth than before. "The psychics have long wanted to eliminate us. They fear us because they cannot control us—and so they will use any means necessary to watch us, to keep us penned in, to make sure that we're not planning anything, plotting their downfall." A wry smile twisted her thin lips. "Few spies would be so foolish as to openly admit that they had been sent by a psychic trainer, but it never hurts to be cautious."

The reason Jinx had suffered to stay at Master Windriver's desk was becoming apparent. Ignoring the humans' conversation, he was eying a collection of wooden figurines that decorated the old, weathered surface. The weavile sitting casually nearby was probably their origin—apparently as bored as Jinx, the pokémon was working away on a block of wood, claws flashing and shavings littering the carpet around its chair. Tobias tried to focus on the two pokémon and not on his embarrassment and unease before the Master Guide.

"So, you've come here to seek sanctuary?"

"Well, for a little while, anyway," Tobias said uncomfortably. "Actually, Madam Truealder said you might be able to help me get away from the psychics entirely. I don't want to go into hiding."

"Oh? And what do you suppose are your other options?"

Tobias's heart sank. "I don't know," he said lamely. "Isn't there some way to run from them, or fight them? I mean, dark-types can resist psychic attacks. Or maybe I could hide from them?"

"You can hide by staying _here_," the master guide said. "Let me tell you how the psychics can find a darkling. It's the way you find the leak in a bucket—fill it up with water, and watch where it drips out. Psychic-types can spread their powers out through an entire town, brushing up against every mind in it. They just look for the hole, the place where their power vanishes. While you are here, your presence will be indistinguishable from all the other darklings—but they want you here anyway. If you leave this place, you will be exposed, for there is no way to make yourself appear normal before a psychic search."

"So it's true?" Tobias said miserably. "I really am starting to gain dark-type powers?"

"Of course. You have been ever since the day you met your murkrow. They're probably not very strong now, but eventually you will be able to withstand even the most powerful psychic attack with minimal discomfort and travel over long distances through the dark plane. By now, your thoughts have probably already been shielded."

"Travel through the dark plane? You mean with faint attack?" Tobias was recalling his uncomfortable escape from the Psychic Temple.

"Yes, that's correct," Mater Windriver said, sounding mildly surprised. "Have you done so before?"

"Yeah, I did have Jinx carry me for a bit. It really hurt, though."

"Your body hasn't grown accustomed to that level of dark energy yet. I'm quite surprised you were even able to use that ability already. Usually, it takes several years to develop, unless there is some catastrophic stress that causes the level of dark energy in the body to build up to a great concentration more quickly than it would on its own."

Tobias decided not to mention his prolonged stay in Olivine's hospital. "So what is that place, anyway?"

Madame Windriver leaned back, a faint smile on her lips. "That's something no human can answer entirely, but I suppose you can think of it as the opposite of the material plane we know. It is the domain of the great powers, the legendaries. It exists alongside the material plane, or perhaps around it, and is accessible from anywhere in our world. Naturally, it's the source of dark-type energy and thus all dark types' power; it is the domain of death. From there all souls come, and to it all will someday return."

Tobias thought back to the shadowy, ever-shifting landscape, the blank silence and its dizzying, contorted denizens, and shivered. He hoped the woman's explanation was just a part of some dark-type religion and not fact. He'd hate to spend more time in that place than necessary, dead or not.

"If you stay here and train with us, you will build up your resistance to dark energy and increase the amount of time you can comfortably spend in the dark plane. Moving about in the dark plane is an excellent means of transportation because time and physical distance are meaningless there, and you can enter and leave the material plane at any point."

Nevertheless, Tobias decided it was a means of transportation he would be avoiding.

"Perhaps," Master Windriver said, smiling faintly, "one could even travel back out into the world, and return to the temple by roads the psychics could not follow."

Tobias blinked, half-disbelieving. "You mean it's like a dark-type teleport?"

"Not a teleport, no; it is faster than flight, but not instantaneous and not bound by the same physical limitations as teleport. This make it more dangerous. Psychic types can only teleport into substances less dense than their own bodies, making it impossible for them to accidentally teleport into a rock or another creature, or at least another creature as solid as them. There is no such limit on faint attack because the dark plane exists everywhere, even where no creature could survive. That is why it requires training to use safely—training with which we can provide you, of course."

A plan was starting to form at the back of Tobias's mind. He could stay here for a while, yes—and then perhaps he could learn to faint attack far enough that he could actually pass _through _the shield and out… no. If you could manage that, wouldn't the dark guides have escaped the region long ago?

"All right, I guess," Tobias said. "So, uh, people here go out sometimes, then?"

"Oh, more than just sometimes," Master Windriver said with a laugh. "Unless the psychics are looking for you especially, they won't have noticed you've left here, and as long as you lie low, they probably won't notice you for some time—and then you can just come back here until they lose interest again. We're the lucky ones, really; the ghost trainers have a lot more trouble slipping out."

Well, that was a relief. So if he stayed here for a while and got good with faint attack, he could have some freedom at last. He relaxed a bit in his chair, only then noticing how tense he'd been. His mouth took advantage of his distraction to spill out a question that had been nagging at him, but which he hadn't dared ask. At the last moment he realized what was happening, but by then it was too late—he heard himself saying, "If you can leave here when you want, though, why are the people here so old?"

Master Windriver didn't even bat an eyelash at the question. "The servants of Death are granted long life. You grow tired of it, to be honest—much better to remain here than to watch the world passing you by, your influence spreading."

"Servants of death?" Tobias asked, voice sounding strange in his ears. He seemed to have gone cold all over, muscles threatening to seize up again.

Master Windriver gave him a sad smile. "You really don't know any of it, do you? Psychic powers spring from Life itself. They are Mew's inheritance, if you believe the old stories. The dark powers spring from Death. They are life's antithesis—that is why the dark types have long been feared in this world. They are Death's agents, helping to keep Life in balance."

Tobias gripped the arms of his chair tightly, knuckles whitening and palms beginning to sweat. Surely it couldn't… just old superstitions… _Haven't I only caused pain to others ever since my journey began?_

It was true; from those first pokémon Jinx had stolen, to the policeman, set upon by a flock of murkrow, to the massacre at the lighthouse, none of his adventures had turned out favorably for his companions, or even his pursuers. Could he really be spreading misery and death everywhere he went? He didn't want to hurt anybody! But if it _was _true…

"Don't be so appalled. Death is not evil. It is as essential to life as life itself. Sorrow is necessary to understand joy. Ours is not a pleasant job, perhaps, but it is a vital one. It's not something we can help; the dark plane thins around us; dark energy wells up through our bodies, which act as gateways to that place. The influence spreads no matter what we do. It's just something you must accept. You walk in shadow—learn to see in the dark."

"You can't be serious!" Tobias choked out, struggling not to give in to hysteria. "I'm some kind of walking bad omen? Just by being around somebody, I could—kill them?"

"That's not how it works. Your presence distorts reality, yes, promotes chaos and disorder, yes. But kill? No. You directly influence no one, merely skew fate such that they are more likely to come to grief. To kill, you would need to use some more conventional means. Again, there's nothing you can do about it, and there are of course ways to reduce your contact with others so that they do not experience the most… adverse… effects of your abilities."

Tobias laughed weakly, desperate tears of horrified mirth blurring his vision. "You can't be serious! 'Just have to get used to' spreading despair and misfortune? Give me a break! What sort of person do you think I am?"

"I think you are a darkling, and a very foolish one at that," Master Windriver said. She shook her head. "You need to stop thinking like such a coddled human. The world isn't always a kind place. Maybe you can't make sunshine follow you everywhere or flowers bloom in your wake. Perhaps others won't understand you. Maybe they'll shun you, or even kill you, for what you are. What of it? That's the way the world is. Humans just aren't willing to accept that, for some reason. Do you think it bothers your murkrow?"

"No," Tobias said vehemently. Jinx gave an emphatic nod of agreement. Now this human lady was one who knew what she was talking about! "What, you think I should be more like him? You want me to become more like—more like--?"

Jinx gave Tobias an innocent look that promised physical violence should the boy say something unflattering. Tobias let the sentence hang unfinished, clenching his teeth. He realized he was shaking and hated himself for it. His weakened brain didn't even have the energy to try its usual denials. Anger tried to makes his feelings, but he knew, really, that he was accepting this latest and most terrible prospect. So many bleak revelations had come to him recently that he accepted these latest with little resistance.

"Yes, I _do _think you should learn from your murkrow. That, after all, is the point of guiding; to let your pokémon realize their potential—and how will they do that if you will not even learn what they are? You have much yet to understand, that much is clear. Now, I can tell that you are disturbed by what I've told you. Why don't you return to your room now and get some rest? I assure you, you will feel better in the morning."

Tobias didn't trust himself to speak. He could hardly remember the last time he'd been dismissed as such a _child, _like he was throwing a tantrum over the loss of a favorite toy. It was all he could do to stand, with stiff reluctance, as Jinx leapt into the air and made for his head. The murkrow settled down comfortably, nibbling at Tobias's hair. The boy felt a surge of resentment at the murkrow's carefree attitude—_that _was what he was supposed to become?

"Your first lesson will be tomorrow," Master Windriver called after him as he stalked out, Chevron trailing unhappily along behind. Once in the hallway, he tried to compose himself a bit, not wanting to show his distress to the other inhabitants of the temple. He didn't want their pity—in fact, he now found he didn't want to have anything to do with them.

The intensity of the emotions whirling about in his head was nevertheless enough to distract him so much that he almost forgot to get food for Igneous. He was forced to turn back, fuming, after almost reaching what little solace there was in his tiny room.

When he finally did reach the place, he handed igneous the plate and threw himself angrily onto the bed. Jinx fluttered off to the bedpost and Chevron, not daring to draw closer, flopped down beside the bed. Tobias was left to himself. He stared blankly at the floor, clutching the bedspread in a deathgrip.

So, not only was he gaining the power to resist psychic attacks and travel to some kind of nightmare dimension, but he was leaking misery like some kind of evil faucet? And he was supposed to take this quietly, like it was right? That woman, acting like "this is the way the world is" was some sort of justification. If that was the way the world was, then it wasn't right! He'd change it—he'd show her.

At least she'd told him that he would be able to get away from this place. He'd just need to work on his faint attack, get better at it, and he'd be off. He'd figure out something; he'd come up with some way to end this curse.

Eventually, feeling drained and weary, he sighed and turned over, only to find himself looking at Igneous. The magmar was sitting in the middle of the wooden floor, eyes closed. As Tobias moved, though, he turned his head and opened his eyes slightly, still perfectly alert. The cleaned plate sat in front of him.

"I'm sorry, Igneous." This felt like the hundredth time he'd apologized to the magmar. "I really do make life awful for everyone around me. I guess I just can't help it."

The magmar stared at him with eyes opened to no more than slits, then let out a loud, derisive snort and turned away. Tobias blinked, feelings of melancholy displaced by surprise and consternation. What was _that _supposed to mean?

Trying not to think about it, Tobias blew out the lamp and crawled in under the covers. Lying in bed with the faint, flickering light of Igneous' body playing across his face, he found sleep to be a long time coming.

----

It was far too early for Tobias's tastes when he was awakened by a sharp knocking on his door. For a few moments he contemplated giving in to petulance and refusing to get up but, to his disgust, he really _did _feel better. That, and he was hungry. He staggered groggily up from the bed, blinking in the dimness of his windowless room. A quick look around revealed that Igneous had already recalled himself to his pokeball, so Tobias pulled open the door—then blinked and squinted, not sure whether his muzzy senses were deceiving him.

"Hey," the girl standing before him said brightly. "Ready for breakfast?" Tobias just stared at her in confusion.

Although she wore the heavy black robes of the Dark Temple, she was considerably younger than anyone he'd seen here yet. She was about a head taller than him, but she looked to be in her mid-teens at the oldest—and somewhat terrifyingly attractive.

"Why're you here?" Tobias asked, endeavoring against early-morning befuddlement and the distraction of the blush he felt creeping into his face to say something coherent.

"Oh, sorry," the girl said with a ready grin. "Master Windriver thought you might be more comfortable around someone closer to your age, so she asked if I'd mind coming back here for a while to help you with your training. I was out exploring the mountains, but winter's coming on, so I figured I might as well come back and help a newbie out. The name's Marie, by the way."

"Um, I'm Tobias," Tobias said, feeling a bit overwhelmed. "Hang on, I'll just get my pokémon."

Chevron was already up and, as ever, excited by the prospect of food. Jinx looked disinclined to budge, though. He made a sort of gurgling noise of protest when Tobias picked him up and carried him towards the door, but he hardly twitched.

"Oh, so that's your murkrow?" the girl asked, fixing a keen, green-eyed stare on the half-awake bird.

"Yeah, this is Jinx," Tobias said proudly. At the moment, he didn't even realize how strange it was to actually be _proud _of his feathery partner. "He doesn't like mornings much."

The girl chuckled and shook her head. "I have a stunky, myself. He's already eating. Come on, I'm sure he'll love to meet you."

Tobias followed her down the hall, a semi-conscious Jinx in his arms and Chevron trotting at his heels. The silence stretched, and Tobias began to feel unusually worried by the lack of conversation. After a bit of casting about for something to say, he stumbled across something half-remembered nagging at his distracted brain. "You said you were out in the mountains just now? So you can use faint attack to go pretty far? How long did it take you to learn to do that?"

"Oh, I don't know," Marie said, slowing down a little as she thought. "I guess I first came to the temple twenty years ago or so, but it only took me a couple of years to get the hang of faint attack."

Tobias was too confused by Marie's answer to be disappointed at the prospect of hanging around at the temple for years. Somehow, his mental math wasn't adding up straight. "Uh, twenty years ago?" he finally asked. "I mean, how old…?"

Marie laughed. "Didn't Master Windriver tell you that darklings live a lot longer than most people?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"You don't actually have extra years added to your life or anything. You just age more slowly, so you end up looking a lot younger than you actually are. I'm in my thirties; most of the people who look my actual age are well past a hundred."

"Oh," was all Tobias could think to say. Suddenly, he found Marie's appearance rather more creepy than appealing. And if the people he'd met yesterday were on past a hundred, how positively _ancient _was Master Windriver herself?"

Marie grinned at his shock. "Hey, it's a perk. There's not a lot good about being a darkling, so enjoy what you've got, right?"

"Yeah," Tobias said. There was a long pause. "So, what exactly do you do for this training, anyway?"

"You'll see," Marie said with another smile, then swept ahead of him and into the mess hall.


	40. A Meeting Past Midnight

**Chapter Forty: A Meeting Past Midnight**

It was a quiet evening. The fire crackled, and outside the large, rippled glass window, the lights of Saltmarsh glowed cozily. Smoke struggled up from chimneys and snow drifted through the air.

The peaceful scene did not mirror Master Goldspur's mood, however. He sat at his desk, eyes closed and fingers steepled before him as he thought. The day's business had almost all been done; he'd dismissed the last caller over an hour ago. He was alone as he could ever hope to be, in the company of only his advisors, and they were quiet and still enough that he could almost forget they were there.

There was a faint flicker in the air about the birds. It was almost a twitch, a shudder, but if they had changed position at all, it was by a degree too small for the eye to detect. _It is done_, their unison voices echoed in the Master's mind.

He sighed. "Defiant to the end, I suppose."

_Yes. They often are._

_So strange how they spring up in his wake, these proud martyrs._

"That's the nature of the beast, isn't it?" the temple Master asked empty air, opening his eyes. "Evil reaches into the world wherever he goes. It is not he that suffers for his sins, but the ones around him. 'Great Crow! All who fall beneath the shadow of his wings can know only despair!' And so he goes on, and the corruption spreads."

_The corruption spreads._

Master Goldspur pushed himself to his feet and began to pace back and forth across his study, the xatu's eyes slowly following his progress. The world seemed to be falling apart around him. The only reports from the lands outside Waytar's borders were of strange events and growing hysteria. Within the Shield, he faced greatest threat to the security of the region he'd seen in his lifetime. The boy couldn't have come along at a worse time, all indications being that Waytar's Shield would soon be needed again to protect its people from the wars of the world beyond. And this time, there would be no holding back; the outer world _would _crumble, and Waytar would be left alone amidst the darkness.

The temple master continued to pace. The action got him nowhere, but the movement helped him focus, gave the illusion that his circular steps were leading to a conclusion for his circular thoughts. Yes, they would be alone amidst the darkness, but there were deep shadows hanging over this land as well. So long ago Waytar could have chosen to purge the darkness from his home, but had not. Why?

Generation on generation had wondered the same. Some had decided it was a test—the darkness a worthy adversary to prevent Waytar's people from growing weak and complacent. Some thought it was a lesson—even the light of the world must cast a shadow. Some even thought it was a question of balance: that to eliminate the darklings would cause some natural system to collapse.

Master Goldspur didn't know what to think. Sometimes he even wondered—and cursed himself for the blasphemous notion—whether Waytar had just made a mistake, been somehow deceived by the darklings and let them have shelter. Even the great man himself could have fallen to their curse, the very curse that had been brought down upon himself.

A dull pain in his right hand made him realize that he had curled it into a tight, vengeful fist, knuckles going white with strain. Forcing himself to relax, he rubbed absently at the ache. Yes, he knew what it was to fall beneath the darklings' shadow. Now he was suffering for the sins of his—no. It was no good to dwell on such things. He would overcome this. He _had _to. He refused to go down in history as the one who let the last bastion of civilization collapse. He couldn't let the whole world fall into shadow.

The xatu twins watched patiently, not intruding upon the Master's thoughts. His face was grim and tense, and no doubt his mind was turbulent. After some time, he stopped his pacing and asked, "Is the family here?"

_Yes. They arrived some three hours ago._

The man was silent for some time after that. Yes, he would do whatever was necessary to defend his world. And it wasn't truly his punishment, was it? No, it was just the boy's accursed power, seeping out to wrap itself around anyone who had grown close to him.

"Send them here," he said and length and, mind made up, walked slowly to sit behind his desk again. It was late, but he had no time to waste. The world turned ever onward. The corruption spread.

----

Tobias _did _see what a darkling's training entailed, although he really wished he didn't. "Jinx!" he yelled as branches whipped at him, slashing exposed skin and stinging everywhere else they struck. He flailed about instinctively, aching fingers straining to close around a branch as he tumbled messily through the canopy. A large limb slammed into his back, knocking the breath out of him. Desperate, he reached out and wrapped his arm around the branch before he could topple off it. The world twisted around as he suddenly found himself vertical, feet dangling into emptiness. Only his painfully tight grasp on the limb kept him from plummeting further—and who could say how long it would last?

Tobias grabbed the branch with his other hand, wincing as a long cut across his knuckles stung. Try as he might, though, he couldn't quite manage to haul himself the rest of the way up and onto a perch. Gasping for breath and trying to shake off the weakness and nausea that accompanied a trip by faint attack, he clung desperately to the branch. Jinx fluttered down to land on the same bough. The murkrow casually began to preen, pretending not to notice his guide's distress.

"I said _not so high_!" Tobias hissed at the murkrow through clenched teeth. Jinx serenely failed to hear him.

"Okay, now you've just got to come down." Marie's voice drifted up from somewhere far beneath Tobias's feet.

Tobias fixed his eyes on his murkrow. "Jinx, I can't keep this up much longer." The murkrow was peering at something on the ground, presumably Marie and her stunky. Tobias's arms were starting to tremble. "Jinx…"

The murkrow turned around and sidled towards him, red eyes alight with mischief. He bent over to inspect one of Tobias's white-knuckled hands.

"Jinx… no…"

The murkrow reached forward, lightning-fast, and bit one of the boy's fingers. The quick stab of pain was too much, and Tobias jerked his hand away in shock. There was a horrified moment of realization as all his weight swung out on his other arm, sweaty fingers slipping off grainy bark, and then was falling—into swirling darkness. Almost before he could realize what was happening, the darkness drew back and he returned to the world again, hitting the ground with a painful crunch.

Jinx released Tobias's finger and fluttered onto the boy's chest, clearly pleased with himself. Tobias groaned, then coughed and tried to sit up. Marie looked down at him, considering. "Well, it was _better_," she conceded. "You're still materializing too high up, though."

"_I'm _not doing anything," Tobias wheezed, swatting Jinx off his chest and struggling back to his feet. The murkrow cackled angrily, but without much conviction. "I've been telling him to stay closer to the ground, but he doesn't pay any attention to me."

"Which _is _your fault," Marie said sternly. "He's your pokémon; he should respect you enough that he'll listen to you, even if he'd rather be goofing off."

Jinx, who had ascended to a low bough on the tree Tobias had just been grappling with, let out an indignant caw. Him? Goof off? Never!

"Still, I guess it might be harder for you, since you have a murkrow. Other dark types don't fly, so of course they normally wouldn't be reappearing above ground-level anyway." Her stunky, which had been rooting around in the dead leaves littering the forest floor, looked up and made some grunting noises. The sounds could have meant anything to Tobias, but Marie nodded absently in response. "So, anyway, you look pretty worn out. Take a break?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," Tobias said, brushing some leaves off the black robes he'd been issued to wear over his normal attire. The heavy, dark fabric was quite warm, but his exposed skin was numb with chill—not to mention bleeding, in the case of the finger Jinx had grabbed. Tobias stuck the offending digit in his mouth and followed Marie back to the temple.

The Lost Forest was where he'd spent the majority of the past few days. The dense woods were an excellent place to work on perfecting faint attack—reappearing without getting stuck inside a tree was surprisingly challenging. Dark energy was thick amidst the trees as well, and wild pokémon offered more conventional training options. Tobias was being put through his paces, working with Jinx on his dark-type attacks and on his own ability to withstand faint attack in particular. Chevron had been getting a workout, too; Marie saw to it that Tobias didn't neglect his battling skills or his other pokémon.

Currently, the linoone was resting in Tobias's room. Chevron had grown used to the complete and near-instantaneous healing offered by Pokémon Centers in Johto, and Tobias, too, had forgotten just how rough battling could be on pokémon in Waytar. As it was, Chevron wouldn't be doing much for a couple of days at least besides nursing a nasty gash across the stomach given to him by Marie's stunky.

Jinx drifted lazily above the guides as they walked inside, keeping well above the tops of the trees. For some reason, the humans stayed on the outskirts of the forest, where it was relatively open--it got much darker and denser as you moved away from the Temple. The skunk-girl had said something about not going in deep, because most people and pokémon that did didn't come out again. Jinx understood this perfectly: once you'd gone there, why would you ever want to leave? He could tell that all the most interesting things lurked near the forest's heart—the trees had an odd shadow over them, one that begged to be peered into and explored.

Tobias, of course, was oblivious to the churnings of the murkrow's devious mind. He was thinking only of further work to come that afternoon, more vanishing and reappearing, more wrestling with Jinx's impudence, and most likely, more falling from high places.

And indeed, when he staggered back to his room that night, he was utterly exhausted and cold to his very bones. Even Jinx was noticeably less perky than usual. Putting down food for Chevron and Igneous, Tobias collapsed onto his bed with a groan. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. While he could tell he was improving with the training, it was a demanding process, and as far as he knew, there was no end in sight.

Also, he'd noticed with interest, though people would comment on his having a murkrow, they wouldn't say why they found the fact remarkable. There had been no mention of his being able to travel through the Shield, or even the reason why murkrow guides were so rare. Tobias didn't know whether this was because Madam Truealder had been lying to him about that, or the others didn't know the reason, or they were for holding the answer back out of fear of… what? In any case, he hadn't mentioned it, either.

Somewhere deep down he held onto the idea that if worst came to worst, he could return to the world outside and try to make a life for himself there. The place might have its own peculiar terrors, but at least it would be more difficult for the psychics to track him down in a region where dark-type trainers were nothing out of the ordinary and there was so much more room to roam.

He couldn't contemplate for long, though. Weariness overcame even the whirring of his preoccupied mind. And, when he awoke, he forgot about the matter entirely. For, when he started to consciousness from some nightmare, his heart racing and his body slicked with sweat, Jinx was gone.

This wasn't terribly uncommon; Tobias had never had a problem with his pokémon prowling away on their own if they wanted to, and with the use of faint attack, Jinx was no longer troubled by closed doors and lack of windows. Tobias tried to lie back and tell himself that it was nothing, unimportant.

Something wouldn't let him, though. He lay awake, listening to the crackle of the fire and watching the flickering glow it cast on the ceiling. For some reason, he felt anxious and apprehensive, unable to get the murkrow out of his mind. Where had Jinx gone and, probably more importantly, what was he up to?

Finally, Tobias gave up on sleep altogether. There was really only one place the bird could have gone—the Lost Forest. Unless he was amusing himself by vanishing into and out of other people's rooms and stealing things from them, anyway. That was entirely possible, but Tobias felt sure that the murkrow had gone to the forest. It seemed that that Jinx spent more time circling over it every day while Tobias went in for breaks or worked with Chevron. Tobias had no idea what horrors Jinx might stumble across in the depths of the forest, which naturally meant that the murkrow would be doing his level best to find out.

Gently pushing Chevron off his chest, Tobias sat up and peered over towards the fire. Chevron twitched and grunted, but merely curled up again and sank back into a deep sleep.

As Tobias had expected, Igneous was sitting in front of the fire, staring into it intently. "Igneous," Tobias hissed. "Igneous, do you know where Jinx is?"

The magmar half-turned in his direction and shrugged.

"How long ago did he leave?" Tobias asked, then realized that he himself had no idea what time it was. The wee hours of the morning, probably. Further, Igneous would probably have trouble communicating time in terms of a specific length. Indeed, the magmar was just staring at him. "Has he been gone long?" Tobias tried instead.

A shake of the head. "All right," Tobias said, getting up, grabbing his black robes and throwing them on. "I'm going to go look for him. Will you come with me?" In the dead of night there wouldn't be anyone out in the woods to see the magmar, and the light and heat he provided would be welcome. Igneous made no response but to stand while Tobias felt around in his pack for the magmar's pokéball. There was no reason to keep Igneous out in the temple where some other late-night prowler might spot him.

Tobias soon found the pokéball and recalled Igneous, then slipped stealthily out of his room so as not to wake Chevron. The corridor outside was pitch black and deathly silent. Hoping he knew the temple's layout well enough by now that he could find his way out without trouble, Tobias set off. Every sound that he made, from the rustle of his robes to the slight creaking of the floor beneath his feet, seemed awfully magnified in the stillness. Even his breathing sounded noisy, and it only got worse as anxiety drove up Tobias's heart rate. He was going to wake someone up, he knew it, and then they'd try to stop him from—what? From taking a walk after dark? Tobias tried to calm himself by reminding himself how bizarre it was to be worried, but irrational fear seemed to have gripped him, prodding him onward, swift and silent through the dark.

But of course no one confronted him, and he escaped the Temple without incident. The fear clung to him, though, driving him towards the forest. It was a clear night, but the moon in Waytar cast only a faint half-light, and the stars were hardly visible. Tobias was quick to release Igneous as the night's chill bit into him.

The woods, unlike the temple, were far from silent. Though this time of year the noise of insects was stilled, the cackle of murkrow sounded periodically through the trees, making Tobias start hopefully every time, and now and then a rustle or a crack announced something large moving through the darkness. Even the trees themselves were noisy, limbs creaking and groaning, bare branches clattering in a faint, chill breeze. Tobias could only pretend that his anxiety was entirely due to the strange shadow that seemed to have fallen over him. If Igneous felt any fear, though, he certainly didn't show it.

The two of them passed together between the trees, farther into the forest now than Tobias had ever been before. Tangled undergrowth made the going slow and laborious, and Igneous couldn't simply burn it away for fear of sending the whole woods up in flames.

It occurred to Tobias that the magmar showed up like a beacon, probably visible to some half the forest, but they traveled without incident. Tobias would sometimes catch the flash of eyes reflecting Igneous' light or a burst of movement in his peripheral vision, but nothing challenged them. Igneous must have looked powerful or alien enough to deter would-be attackers, or perhaps the pokémon here were so unaccustomed to human presence that they were unsure what sort of threat the boy and the magmar posed.

At first, Tobias despaired his chances of finding Jinx. While he felt compelled to search, he had to acknowledge that the Lost Forest was fairly large, and chances were good that Jinx wouldn't want to be found anyway.

Soon, however, he found his confidence growing. He felt as though he had gained some new instinct, one that led him on towards his pokémon. There was a faint resonance in his chest, a kind of localized tingling that shifted as he moved through the trees, and if he stopped and closed his eyes, he could raise a hand and point in the direction of the murkrow. Of course, he couldn't be sure that it was really Jinx's presence he was feeling, but there was an unquestionable quality to the feeling. It was like recognizing the way home as you returned from a long journey; you couldn't always point out a concrete landmark that you remembered, but you could _feel _that you knew the places you passed through, knew the way back even though stopping to think about directions would get you nowhere. With worry gnawing at his insides, Tobias didn't even stop to wonder about his new ability. Igneous followed along behind, never questioning the path.

All in all, it couldn't have been more than an hour or two before Tobias stumbled across Jinx—and the murkrow's companion. Quite abruptly Tobias clambered over a fallen log and there, leaning up against a rather large tree, was a person with a murkrow perched on their outstretched arm.

Jinx turned to look at Tobias and gave him a caw of greeting, seeming to find nothing strange about the situation. Tobias stopped, hesitating as he tried to make out what sort of person was standing before him in this strange place. They were wearing robes, and in the faint light Tobias could tell that they were lighter than his—the gray of a ghost trainer, perhaps? The stranger's head was hooded, and whoever it was carefully remained far enough away from Igneous that their face was cast in shadow.

"So, Tobias, long time no see." The voice was hoarse and tenuously masculine.

"Who are you?" Tobias shot back, and the person—boy, Tobias decided—laughed quietly, a wheezing sound that bordered on a cough.

"Yes, I suppose there's no way you'd recognize me. I wouldn't have known you, if your murkrow hadn't told me who you were. I'm Damien. Damien Darksand."

"Oh…" Tobias had to work at it a bit, but he _did _remember the boy. They hadn't known each other well, but Tobias had at least a familiar name and a half-remembered impression of a quiet, somewhat creepily so, boy. "Right, yeah, I remember you. But what are you doing _here_? And what do you mean Jinx told you who I was?"

"I came here for the same reason I assume you did—to learn more about the sort of person I was. One of the things that I learned that I am a good listener; if I am patient enough, I can even hear what most pokémon have to say, if they want me to understand."

"No, I mean what are you doing _here_—in the middle of the forest, late at night, with my murkrow." Tobias watched Damien closely, trying to catch sight of a face beneath the hood. Something was wrong here—Tobias was sure he hadn't seen Damien around the temple, though he certainly hadn't met everyone who was staying there. And, of course, he was deep in the supposedly off-limits part of the Lost Forest at this crazy hour, apparently convinced that he could talk to pokémon.

"Ah." Damien nodded slightly. "Yes. Unfortunately, I am no longer welcome at the temple. The forest is where I live now, at the heart of the power. It was your murkrow who approached me first—he recognized me, and he wanted to know what I was doing out here alone. That's how I came to know he belonged to you."

"No longer welcome? What did you do? And what do you mean by 'the heart of the power?'" Things were getting weirder and weirder, and the hair on Tobias's arms and the back of his neck was bristling—not from the cold, either. He contemplated making a grab for Jinx and then running for it. The murkrow seemed content to stay with Damien for the moment, unfortunately, and the other boy had not made any indication of wanting to give Tobias the bird.

"I don't hold with the temple's philosophy," Damien replied. "The place is full of cowards and old, stubborn fools. They're afraid of their own power, so much so that they're willing to accept the way things are, the way the rest of the world treats us! They have no place for someone like me. I want to see change, to see us outcasts take our rightful place in the world instead of hiding away with our heads down, content in exile."

"Yeah?" Tobias asked. The boy was at least borderline crazy, Tobias decided, but he did have to admit that a small part of him was interested despite himself. "So what exactly did you have in mind to change?"

"I want to bring down the psychics. They rule the whole region, don't you know? They control education and employment. They are the justice system. They even control the Guide's Council. Supposedly, the fourteen temple masters all have equal power, but in truth the psychic temple head manipulates them all. They keep us trapped in this wretched little world with their Shield. They tell us all that it's for our own protection, our own good, that the outer world is dead and that it was wicked anyway. But that's not true!"

An excited energy had entered Damien's rasping voice, and he spoke quickly, stopping for breath only grudgingly. "There's a whole world out there. There's things beyond the Shield you couldn't even dream of—they say there's buildings as tall as the mountains, and special hospitals that can cure even the worst injuries, and invisible rays that can carry pictures and music anywhere in the world! And best of all the psychics don't rule, and the darklings and the ghost guides are treated like normal people. The psychics know this, but they don't want to give up their power. So here we are, trapped like some sort of savages while the rest of the world prospers!"

"Hold on," Tobias said, cutting him off. "Who told you that? I mean, honestly? 'Invisible rays?' Do you really believe that?"

"It's the truth!" Damien hissed. "You darklings can pass through the Shield. The slipstri migrate north every summer—they know what's out there. They tell stories. Sometimes murkrow even fly out to the world beyond—_you _could fly there! Even better, you could destroy the Shield! Make way for everyone and destroy the Psychic Temple's power!"

So Damien knew about destroying the Shield and what it meant to have a murkrow. It was true, then—and the others at the temple must know as well. They had just been keeping it from him. Damien, well, he might have some crazy ideas, but at least he seemed to know what was going on, and he didn't try to hide it. Tobias's next question came out laced with bitterness. "So why has nobody mentioned this to me before now?"

"Because they don't want you to know! I already told you, the darklings don't want change. They're comfortable where they are, and they don't want to risk themselves for fear of what the psychics will do to them if they fail. They can travel through the shield, but they can't cross the ocean. But you, you're different. You and your murkrow, you can fly through together! That's why I knew I had to talk to you, had to ask your murkrow to bring you here."

"And you couldn't have just come and seen me when I came into the forest to train or something? Or couldn't you have at least tried this at some more reasonable hour? And what's with the hood and everything? Why won't you let me see your face?"

The boy gave a bitter, rasping laugh and replied, "Unfortunately, I have not been in the best of health since leaving the temple. I can't leave the deep forest, at least not for now. I'm wearing this hood because I didn't want to scare you off. I would be too weak to go to you, and if I tried to bring you at any other time, you might have brought others with you. I wanted to speak with you alone."

"What happened to you?" Tobias asked. "Why do you think I'd be scared?" Jinx, who had been glancing idly around at the trees, let out a quick burst of cackling laughter and fixed his gaze on Tobias with what the boy could swear was a smirk. Glowering at the murkrow, he tried to fix his intention on Damien's reply rather than irritation at Jinx.

The hooded figure shook its head, a quick, impatient motion. "Not everything in this forest is friendly. I had to sacrifice much for the understanding I have now, the power to converse with pokémon and… more. Do you know how frustrating it is, to give everything you have for something, then find yourself unable to use it because of how much you had to give up?" The breathy rasp took on a dark snarl as he went on, but then he paused and seemed to recover control of himself before continuing in a more normal tone. "But that's not the point. What's important is you. What are _you _going to do?"

"I—I'm not sure," Tobias said, taking a slow step back. Yes, something was definitely wrong here, something was wrong with Damien. He should recall Jinx and get out of here.

His legs didn't carry him any farther, though. His mind wavered, instincts screaming of danger warring with old, unspoken wishes. Wasn't Damien at least partly right? Hadn't Tobias been depressed by Master Southbend's fatalistic attitude and frustrated by the lack of freedom he seemed destined to have as a darkling? What if this was the way out? No one else could change it; they didn't even seem to want to. Shouldn't he be the one, then, to show everyone the truth?

"No!" Damien cried, and the word decayed into a fit of harsh coughing. As soon as he was able, the boy wheezed, "Don't you see? You have to do this! Who knows when the next murkrow guide will come along? You know full well what sort of tyrants the psychics are. You could end it! Why wouldn't you? Do you want this to go on for another fifty years, another hundred, when in the world outside dark guides enjoy normal lives and here people like you and me are treated like monsters?" Jinx had apparently had enough of Damien's tirades; the murkrow spread his wings and flew up to a low branch between the two boys.

As Tobias watched Jinx flutter through the gloom, a thought came unbidden to his mind. Yes, he _could _do it. And then wouldn't he be a hero? He could show them all… not sowing misery, he'd free everyone from chains they didn't even realize they were in…

"They'll cage you! Now that they have you, they're not going to let you go. They're afraid of you, both the psychics and the darklings! They know what you are capable of, and they don't want you to realize it. The temple masters are worse than cowards. They know the truth, and yet they do nothing! Do you really want to be running all your life? You could end it all!"

And it was true, there _were _wonders in the world beyond. How many people could be saved in a year, in a _day_, with the medical knowledge they had in Johto? And all the other technology, of course: there could be skyscrapers and computers and everything else. It was true that the outer world had its dark side, but how did it compare to the way Waytar was run now? And there was no reason they had to become _entirely _like Johto; Waytar had its own traditions, could look on the outer world with a critical eye and take only the best of what it had to offer.

Damien seemed to take Tobias's prolonged silence for skepticism and plowed on with increasing fervor, voice cracked and wheezing as he struggled on. "Listen, all you have to do is defeat the six pokémon in the World's Teeth. The nearest one is off the shore of Snowpoint. You can use faint attack—I'm sure you can make it! They'll never be able to catch you. By the time they realize what's going on, it will be too late..."

"Alright," Tobias said firmly. Damien's gasping sentence petered out. A stunned silence filled the chill air before the boy spoke again, cautious.

"You mean…?"

"Yeah," Tobias said. "It's got to be done, right? And I'm the only one who can do it."

"Yes—" Damien tried to take a step towards Tobias but staggered, forced to grab at the tree behind him with a shaking hand. Jinx let out a surprised caw, and the boy's hooded head turned in his direction. "I'll be fine. Why don't you go back to your guide now?" Damien said in a voice barely above a whisper, and after a moment of hesitation Jinx fluttered over to alight on Tobias's head. Damien took a few moments to recover his breath before continuing. "Good. So, you heard what I said. You need to go to Snowpoint—"

"Yeah, I got it," Tobias said. "Visit all the World's Teeth and defeat the pokémon inside them. That's all?"

Damien's nodded. "Yes. And best of luck to you; the hopes of everyone in Waytar who lives in fear of the psychics go with you. I would offer to accompany you, but I won't be able to leave this place for some time yet."

"Right," Tobias said, not interested in hearing another long and creepy rant. "So, I don't suppose you could give me some sort of clue about what kind of pokémon those are? What makes you think that I can defeat them?"

"I'm afraid I don't know. They are powerful psychics, whatever they are, but your murkrow is strong. They will be preoccupied with keeping the Shield up while they fight; I am sure that you will be able to defeat them."

"Thanks," Tobias said without much conviction. It figured. "Well, I've really got to be going if I'm going to leave before anyone can stop me. So, uh, thanks for the eye-opener, I guess. And… goodbye." He turned away to start back to the temple, hoping that Damien wasn't going to press the issue.

There was no way he was leaving tonight, or even the next day; or maybe not even ever. Chevron was too injured to travel for now, and he really needed to sleep on this. More than that, really; Tobias was pretty sure you shouldn't take the advice of a suspicious kid with some kind of respiratory infection at face value. He was going to need some time to think this over when he wasn't freezing and tired and scared, but for now, he had a feeling that the only way he was going to get away from Damien was with a promise of action.

Tobias was so preoccupied that he almost stumbled into Igneous. The magmar had remained calm and silent throughout the entire conversation, and even now he only looked up at Tobias with his usual blank expression and stepped out of the way. "Come on, we need to go back and get my stuff," Tobias mumbled, skirting the magmar and starting off a trot, not daring to look back.

"Good luck!" Damien called after the retreating light that marked Tobias's progress. Unnoticed by the hurrying boy, a haunter peeled itself away from his shadow and flitted off into the trees, its presence no longer necessary to motivate him with feelings of inexplicable dread.

Tobias was agitated, stumbling carelessly through the woods in a preoccupied stupor, but Jinx seemed unruffled. The murkrow turned around to watch Damien be swallowed up by the trees and let out a caw of farewell. He had seemed really nice, the murkrow thought, for a dead guy.


	41. Vacation

**Chapter Forty-One: Vacation**

Days passed and nights grew colder. Colder still were the minds of the ones that lived in the sprawling old building, shrouded in a blackness that stung as her thoughts brushed against it, like she was reaching out to touch metal coated in a thin sheet of ice. Around them flickered the spirits of the dead, now little more than bundles of thoughts and emotion, bodies decayed to airy wisps of spite and mischief. Not silent, these, but still cold, and with an awful echoing quality, like voices drifting up from the depths of a well. These too she avoided. Even most of the pokémon native to this place wore a mantle of blackness around their thoughts.

But in among the dead and the dark were a few glowing coals, the minds of pokémon, mostly, that went about their business as though oblivious to the sea of darkness they swam in. It was these that she followed, tiptoeing around drifting clouds of black, these that she reached out to, learning their contours, their colors and moods.

She could deal with the winter's chill—she'd had to, after all, for years before she'd met that accursed child. It was emptiness of the psychic world that nibbled away at her as the nights lengthened. For a psychic type, the world was usually a place made incandescent by the minds of those who inhabited it, the air undulating with currents of mental activity. Even in the most remote places, there were still the wild minds of pokémon, winging over unending fields or darting between the trees, and those of lowlier things still, creeping through the underbrush. These last could hardly be called minds at all, but still they shone with their own faint light.

Here, though, the warmth of thought was held veiled behind a wall of mocking shadows. If she concentrated hard and pushed her mind up against the clouds of blackness, ignoring the burning pain that spread across her body and static jumble of noise that filled her head, she could sometimes hear voices, faint and indecipherable, like a radio show operating on a frequency just out of reach. She didn't try to force her way through these dark shields more than once or twice.

And so it was a lonely time, and a hungry one as well; she was a creature of the trees, but this forest was no home to her, especially not at night, her hunting-time. Instead she was forced out onto the open plains to scavenge what she could. Most creatures slept this time of year, but she made do with what small things she could find. Once or twice she descended into the building itself, raiding its kitchens while the cooks slept. These were dangerous and humiliating missions, though, and she risked as few as possible.

What parts of the daytime she was awake she spent perched on the roof, tail curled tight around herself and body hunched against the wind. She listened to the dance of life going on below, despite the death mingling with it, and waited. One mind in particular she watched, the first one she checked for upon waking, the last one she returned to before retiring with the dawn.

It was the mind of one pokémon she knew he would not leave behind, simple and bright with cheerful warmth. When it left, she would follow. She knew he would leave—it was his way, to grow restless as the place around him seemed more and more like a cage, as he felt his pursuers drawing near his hiding place. He was a coward; he took to flight. So she would wait a while longer, keeping the company of the zubat that slept in the old belltower, and when he ran she would be on his heels.

Sometimes she reached up to toy with the bits of metal dangling about her neck, feeling their twisted smoothness beneath her fingers. This was her mission, one she had been honored, grateful to accept. She would not fail.

Ever since the night he had chased after Jinx, Tobias had found himself ill at ease in the Lost Forest. He never had to go in deep for his training, and the comforting bulk of the Dark Temple was always visible between the trees, but still he expected _something _of the eerie place. Flashes of movement taunted his peripheral vision, but when he turned to look, all was still. Once or twice he thought he saw a hooded figure, almost invisible in its dark robes, huddled in the shadows at the base of a tree. Of course there was nothing there whenever he got up the courage to investigate.

Even so, surely Damien must be watching him, wondering at his failure to leave. It wasn't that Tobias didn't think about what the boy had said—that the power to save all of Waytar rested in him and him alone. It was only utter exhaustion that saved him from sleepless nights filled with undeserved, foolish hope and agonized indecision. Marie laughed at his jumpiness; Chevron healed and was soon bounding around the trees himself, delighting in the exercise and the snow that came less than a week after the late-night meeting. Still Tobias lingered.

He was safe here. He trained and he slept in a warm bed and he even laughed a bit with the other apprentices over meals, as they came to know one another. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he'd felt so safe; even in Johto, where he thought he had evaded pursuit, the utter strangeness of the place had put him on edge. It was a false sense of peace, and sometimes he knew this altogether too well, but he did his best to ignore the niggling feelings of unease, the knowledge that he was still hunted, his sanctuary really a prison.

By now he and Jinx had come quite a ways towards mastering faint attack. Marie commented favorably on their progress, when she wasn't taking advantage of Tobias's newfound skittishness by directing her skuntank to leap out at him at unexpected moments. Gradually he worked up to asking about leaving, both to overcome his nervousness over how the request would be received and his own reluctance to plunge into another uncertain quest.

"So how long do you think it'll be before I can leave the temple for a while?"

"Mmm?" Marie looked up from her plate. They had gotten lunch late, as Tobias had been having some particular difficulty instructing Jinx on the use of sucker punch, and the dining hall was mostly empty. Tobias wasn't sure if he preferred the relative privacy to the usual hustle and bustle that would have drowned out their conversation. "Well, I guess that's something you'd want to ask Madam Shatterglass before anybody else. Not that you really need permission to go anywhere."

Tobias toyed idly with the uneaten vegetables on his plate. "I mean, do you think I'm ready? How far do you think I could go with a faint attack?"

"Oh, I don't know. Probably not far enough. Look, why so eager to get away? You've hardly been here a month." Marie grinned, but Tobias was only becoming more gloomy.

"It's not that I want to get away," he lied. "It's just that, you know, all this training... am I coming along all right?"

"Oh, sure, sure," Marie said breezily. "You're jumpy as anything out in the woods, I swear, but you're doing pretty well. Wait a bit longer, and you ought to be able to faint attack around wherever you want."

Scraping the last of her mashed potatoes off her plate, she stuck her fork in her mouth and glanced around the dining hall. "Any idea where your murkrow's gone off to?"

"Oh, he's over there somewhere, up to something, probably." Tobias didn't have to look to point to where he knew Jinx must be. If he stopped and thought for a moment, he no longer had trouble figuring out where the murkrow was, as long as it wasn't too far.

Marie looked over where he was pointing. After a few moments, she turned back to him, her smile replaced by a look of puzzlement. "Huh. Keep a decent eye on him, do you? I don't blame you, he seems like a troublemaker."

"Oh, he is," Tobias said, and had to smile as he thought of the indignant response Jinx would have if he were within earshot. His good humor faded as Marie continued to frown. "Something wrong?"

"It's nothing." Marie shook her head. Tobias didn't press the issue, and for a couple of minutes lunch was again the primary order of business. Tobias braved his squash with stern reminders to himself that he wouldn't have any fresh vegetables at all once winter gripped the land; even these before him now were the tail end of the fall harvest. He ought to eat them while he had the chance, however loathsome they were.

With the silence stretching on and the prospects on his plate unappetizing, Tobias blurted out something he wouldn't ordinarily have said. "So, umm, I was wondering... is it weird that I got Jinx as my first pokémon?"

"Weird?" Marie looked up from her plate again. "It's uncommon, but I don't know if you'd call it 'weird.' "

"I was just wondering, because some of the other apprentices act kind of strange around me, like I'm scary or something. It doesn't have anything to do with my having a murkrow for a partner, does it?"

"I don't see why it would. They're just not used to seeing new people around here, that's all."

"You're sure? There's nothing... unusual about murkrow guides?"

"No, not that I know of. If it's bothering you, you should talk to Master Shatterglass about it." Marie set her fork across her plate and stood up, though most of her vegetables, Tobias couldn't help but notice, had escaped attention as well. "Come on. We should get back outside before your murkrow steals all the silverware the Temple has to its name."

Ordinarily Marie was the one scolding him for not finishing all his food, Tobias though morosely as he started after her to drop his plate off at the kitchen. He obviously wasn't getting anything more out of her. And speaking to Master Shatterglass? The image of the scornful old woman sprang to his mind, and his heart sank. No, he didn't think he'd get many answers there.

He had to get away. It didn't have to be permanent, or even for long. There was no reason he needed to go off on some stupid quest to bring down the Shield, either. He could just get away and think for a while, out where it didn't seem like he was being watched on all sides by people who couldn't decide whether or not he was a dangerous animal. No one had said he _couldn't _go anywhere, after all, and he was confident enough about his ability to use faint attack that he didn't think he'd get stuck. As long as he kept out of trouble, what was the harm?

Two days later, in the still darkness of the early hours, he slung his heavy pack onto his back and crept from his room, out onto the open plains and away. By the time the sun rose he was nearly fifty miles out, making good time through the snow.

For a little while, it was almost like being a new guide again. Better, actually—there was less terror of thunderstorms, less homesickness now that he'd grown used to being out on his own. There was nothing to the world but him and his pokémon and the trackless land stretching on in all directions. He might find anything over the next hill, whether it be a rare pokémon or a tiny town, half-forgotten out on the plains.

The days were bright but cold, and Tobias kept Igneous out with him at all times. There was a good two inches of snow on the ground and the magmar was surrounded by a constant veil of steam as he boiled the stuff away wherever he stepped. Tobias had asked many times whether the magmar minded having to walk through the stuff and been met with only indifferent responses, so he decided not to feel guilty about it and just be thankful for the heat the magmar's presence provided.

Chevron and Jinx enjoyed the opportunity to roam—Tobias suspected Jinx enjoyed the break from training all day more, but didn't begrudge the murkrow a bit of peace. As they traveled north the land began to rise in gentle hills and sprouted the odd stand of forest. Now and again they would come upon a flock of murkrow roosting in the bare trees and Jinx would take off, cawing a greeting to his extended family and setting off a great din as they yelled back their replies.

Chevron romped happily through the snow, stopping periodically to dig when compelled by some mysterious scent. Tobias accepted the small tokens he brought back with smiles and didn't worry when the linoone was out of sight for long periods of time. By now, he thought, Chevron was strong enough that he could take care of himself if he came across any hostile wild pokémon. There were few enough of them out at this time of year, anyway.

The little band traveled north, with Tobias entertaining some vague notions of visiting Snowpoint City, which was where he had been traveling, after all, when he'd fallen out of the boat and ended up in Johto. That was on the other side of the Glitterpeak Mountains, though, and Tobias wasn't sure he wanted to chance a faint attack from one side to the other. Certainly there was no way he was going to cross them on foot in the winter, though there had been foolhardy guides in the past that had tried. A few had even survived.

He also hoped that no one would expect he'd go north, given the season; privately he knew that south, and Saltmarsh, was out of the question, but west or east held little attraction for him at the moment. He walked for a little while when he felt like it, and frequently hopped forward a few miles with the help of faint attack. The thought of anyone following him fell farther and farther behind with every such jump, bolstering his spirits and nudging him onward.

Days ticked past. Tobias barely noticed them, his time whittled down to slices of daylight spent merely walking, staring up at the gray-blue sky and watching his breath fog in the air, throwing sticks for Chevron to chase, joking around with Igneous in an attempt to elicit something like a smile from the stony magmar. If it weren't for the knowledge that his supplies were limited and that the cold, which was already becoming an obstacle, was only going to grow worse as winter settled in over the region, he almost fancied he could live this life forever, just wandering, not really thinking about anything in particular.

He was in this kind of daydreaming state one bright afternoon as he trudged through new-fallen snow. The sky was clear and the sun, even as weak as it was here, set the snow aglitter. Pokémon tracks ran willy-nilly across its surface, but Tobias was surely the first human to have passed here since the snow fell—the first in how many weeks, how many months? The little grove of trees he found himself in now was silent, save for the sizzling of Igneous' feet in the snow. Chevron had gone off exploring a while ago and Jinx, likewise, had soared off to find mischief elsewhere.

It was naturally surprising to hear a voice in his head. _Well, well, well. Fancy seeing you here._

Tobias froze, glancing wildly from side to side. Igneous kept walking for a few paces before realizing something was wrong. Turning back to his guide, the magmar gave a questioning grunt.

The trees remained silent and still. Tobias let out a forced laugh. "It's nothing, Igneous. I just thought I heard something, that's all."

_Oh, nothing, am I? Let's see you 'nothing' _this.

The snow next to Tobias exploded upwards, and he stumbled sideways, throwing his arms up to shield his face against the stinging bits of ice. Behind him, Igneous barked an angry exclamation and hurried past him, coming to stand in front of Tobias and scanning the area for the source of the attack.

Tobias lowered his arms and blinked snow out of his eyes. Looking down at the place where he'd just been standing, he found that a clean circle of snow had vanished as though vaporized by some unseen hand.

_I'm up here, you moron._

Tobias jerked his head up and turned his face towards the trees, squinting his eyes against the glare of the open sky. There, in the upper branches of an elm a few yards to his left: something dark huddled up against the tree's trunk, like a heavy canker wrapping the base of a branch. As he watched the dark shape moved, unfolded itself—and leapt lightly down to a lower branch on a tree still closer to Tobias.

Igneous had caught sight of the creature too, and his head turned slowly to follow its progress, his stance tense and the air around his body starting to flicker and dance as his body temperature rose. Now that it was a bit closer and no longer set against the sun-bright sky, Tobias could make out what the creature was—_who _it was. His throat felt uncomfortably dry; the first time he tried to say it, he got out nothing but a raspy cough.

"Ac-Accemenla. What are you doing here?"

_Oh, I was sent, you know, by the powers that be. _The tarsix waved a lazy hand at nothing in particular; had it been a more casual moment, Tobias might have teased her about the humanness of the gesture. _For some reason they had a feeling you'd be slinking out of your dark little cave again. They thought they might need someone to keep an eye on you. Can't have you wandering off and ruining more lives, now can we?_

"Come on, Accemenla, you know it's not like that! Since when have I done anything to hurt anybody else?"

_Since when? Since when? _The tarsix's fur bristled and she leaned forward on her branch, tail lashing behind her. _You filthy little child! Don't you know you've made my life hell? And the rest of your pokémon, too? They're right to want you stopped, before you spread your misery beyond the circle of the slaves you've gathered to travel with you!_ The psychic words were punctuated by a drawn-out hiss from the tarsix's actual mouth.

Tobias was taken aback. After a moment he said, "Listen, Accemenla, you know I didn't mean to hurt you. I know you don't like me, but..."

The tarsix let out a screeching cry and raised one clawed hand. Igneous rumbled a warning and stepped forward, his flames dancing higher. Accemenla lowered her arm again, eyes narrowing. _And you. You would really defend him, after everything he's made you do? Do you think he cares for you at all, the way he uses you?_

Tobias was certainly heartened by Igneous' willingness to come to his aid, especially after the incident at the Psychic Temple. "If she tries to do anything, try and drive her off with smog, okay?" he muttered to the magmar. Apparently he hadn't been quiet enough; screeching laughter rang on the inside of his skull.

_And there he does it again. The puling little human, asking you to step in and defend him against the consequences of his own actions. You don't have to put up with it, you know. Step aside, and you'll be free of him forever._

"What are you talking about?" Tobias had never heard Accemenla go on like this before. Something about the way she was acting unsettled him far more than any of her usual grouchy tirades ever had.

More laughter. _Stupid human! Whatever happened to listening to your pokémon and trying to understand them? It's been there before you the entire time and you've never noticed._

Igneous turned to look over his shoulder at Tobias. The magmar's usual remorseful expression had a beseeching quality to it that rattled the boy's nerves. _He hates to fight! He hates it more than anything! And what is it that you're always ordering him to do, you selfish little fool?_

The tarsix's words sent a cold wave of horror over Tobias. Igneous watched his reaction, silent and immovable as ever. "That's... is that true, Igneous?"

The magmar held his gaze a moment more, then turned away. Accemenla's cackling rang in Tobias's head as he tried to fight down panic and confusion, tears starting to blur his vision. What was going on? There was something all wrong about this; it was like living a bad dream. _So stand aside, _Accemenla was saying in the background. _I have no quarrel with you. Why not step down and let this one get what's coming to him?_

Igneous took another step forward, claws clenching into fists. "Magmar!"

The tarsix frowned, tail switching back and forth in annoyance. _I'm afraid I have no time to get into a philosophical discussion_ _with you, _she said. _Move or fight._

Igneous took in a deep breath, the flames dancing over his skin flaring up. Accemenla quickly raised a hand again and began to move it slowly back and forth. At first, Tobias had no idea what she was doing, or why Igneous wasn't attacking, instead just holding in the air he'd sucked up. It wasn't until he let it out in a puff of smoke and staggered forward a step, shaking his head, that the boy began to realize what was going on.

Hypnosis! Since when did Accemenla know hypnosis? "Don't look at her, Igneous!" he yelled as the magmar dropped to his knees with a great hiss of melting snow, eyes still following the tarsix's hand back and forth through the air. It was too late; the magmar was too deep under the spell. He collapsed entirely, eyes closed, his body heat slowly carving out an island of bare grass around him.

Tobias stared dumbly at the fallen magmar, and for nearly a minute, Accemenla was content to let him. _Looks like it's just you and me, human._

Tobias didn't look up at her, deep in concentration. He could feel Jinx, distantly, somewhere off to the south. Though he felt stupid doing it, he tried yelling out to the shadow the murkrow cast in his mind, hoping to draw him nearer. There didn't seem to be a response.

_Nothing more to say to me, then? Very well. Good riddance, human. _She was raising her hand again as Tobias looked up, trying to gather his courage.

"What are you going to do, put me to sleep and hope I freeze to death or something? I'm a darkling, remember? Your psychic attacks can't hurt me."

_So simple-minded. _A ripple of distortion flew from the tarsix's claws and slammed into a branch over Tobias's head, snapping it off at its base. Tobias managed to throw himself out of the way before it brained him, and it landed with a heavy thud and a rattle of bare twigs just where he had been standing a moment before. He looked back up at Accemenla, who had shifted to an insolent lounging pose on her branch, a smirk on her face. Something glinted at her neck, but Tobias noticed it for no more than a fleeting moment before the tarsix flicked a claw, eyes glowing blue, and he was forced to throw himself to the side again as the fallen branch lurched into the air and swung at him like a bat.

Tobias landed hard on hands and knees, panting and casting another terrified look up at Accemenla. The tarsix let the branch fall back to earth with a thump and smirked. _Ah. Now we see._

"Why are you doing this?" Tobias asked helplessly. "I still don't understand why you've decided that I'm some kind of monster."

_I have a duty, human. I am lucky to have been rescued from you, and now I repay my debts by making sure that you can do no more harm to others. Now, shall we, before your other slaves recover and come dashing to your aid?_

"Oh, so for some reason Jinx and Chevron didn't agree that I deserved to die, so you had to get rid of them, too. What did you do to them?" Tobias snarled.

_Nothing permanent. Hold still, now..._

Tobias was already running. There was no time to dig out Igneous' pokéball and recall him—hopefully he would survive and be able to return for the magmar later. His best bet was to get out of the trees; he didn't think Accemenla could run for very long across open ground, and at least the plains wouldn't afford her much in the way of weapons to use against him. He considered throwing his pack away, heavy as it was and liable to slow him down, but thought better of it—it held all his food, his map, his bedroll; if he lost it, whether or not he escaped Accemenla, he was as good as dead.

The tarsix laughed. A psybeam smashed into the snow just to his left and Tobias swerved, ducking around a tree and trying not to lose his balance. Another psybeam soon followed, this just behind him.

At first Tobias didn't even wonder why Accemenla kept on firing attacks she knew couldn't really hurt him. He was grateful that that was all she seemed to be doing as he threw himself onward. The land was sloping upwards; perhaps he'd come to a clearing at the top of the hill. For the moment, though, the breath burned in his throat and he felt and his pack dragged awfully at him as he blundered on through the thin snow.

An unwise glance over his shoulder showed him Accemenla following behind him, leaping from tree to tree with easy grace. Tobias nearly ran straight into the side of a tree as he watched her and was forced to stop for a moment, panting and leaning against the trunk that had almost doomed him. Then a psybeam smashed into the bark just beside his head, showering him with splinters as it carved a fist-sized hole in the wood, and he was away again.

The crest of the hill came and went. Over the pounding of his heart and the rush of air in his lungs, Tobias heard another sound. Somewhere ahead, water was running; its gurgling echoed up from the base of the hill Tobias found himself fleeing down. He was struggling enough as it was, not to pitch forward and lose his footing, not to slip on the snow or slick grass beneath and do likewise, and for a few moments, stretched by terror to many times their usual length, Tobias didn't really comprehend the implications of the sound.

Then he slid to a halt, panting, as new panic gripped him. The stream had come into view ahead—it was actually quite broad, more a small river, and flowed merrily down out of the mountains. It was too swift and deep to have iced over yet, and Tobias didn't like his chances of trying to plunge across. The water cut straight across his path; he'd have to run along it until he found someplace to cross or the land flattened out a bit—if running down this hill had been bad, trying to make it _up _again when he was even more tired was out of the question.

One of Accemenla's psybeams finally struck home as Tobias stood there, trying do decide if he should cut sideways immediately or only once he was forced to at the riverbank. The psychic attack hit him in one leg and took it out from under him; he went down and rolled, struggling madly to stop his slide. Through sheer luck he was able to do so before he hit anything. _Hold still, now, _Accemenla sneered as he began struggling back to his feet, and he was forced to lunge sideways in a kind of half-crouch as another tree branch descended upon him.

It was at this point that he decided to struggle out of his pack; it was throwing off his balance and making it even harder to rise. Tobias realized then that all Accemenla had been aiming for the whole time had been to knock him down, immobilizing him for long enough that she could try to bring something down on top of him. As it was, he was forced to dodge another falling limb, though this time he managed to remain upright and went stumbling on down the hill, slipping and flailing and only barely managing to keep his feet.

At the base of the hill, he skidded to a halt in front of the stream. He'd been right—the water looked deep in the middle, too deep to easily wade, and it was rushing along at a good clip, crashing energetically along its rocky bed.

_So you see, human, _Accemenla said, and Tobias whirled around, already starting to run. A psybeam to the ground just in front of him had him staggering back, though, and he cast a glance up into the trees. Accemenla was perched on a limb overhanging the water, not looking the slightest bit winded; something metallic around her neck flashed in the sunlight, and Tobias dazedly thought that he'd never realized she liked jewelry. _Perhaps I can't hurt you directly with my psychic powers, but I don't really need to, now do I? You're weak, little human, and dangerously stupid. It's really very surprising you've lasted so long. _Another psybeam made Tobias back up, putting him perilously close to the water's edge.

There was some part of Tobias that dearly wished to snap back at Accemenla, but all he could manage was to let out a wheeze and turn to start running again. Accemenla laughed and fired another psybeam. This one struck Tobias square in the chest, pushing him backwards—his arms pinwheeled desperately as he lost his footing and toppled into the stream.

The cold shock of water closing over his head was disorienting; the sharp tug of the current against his body spun him around, and Tobias fought blindly to put himself back in line with gravity. He drove down with his feet and up with his head, felt slick rock below and welcome air above. No sooner than he had righted himself and sucked in a grateful breath than another psybeam pushed him under again and made him lose his footing.

He was drifting farther from the bank, dragged on by the current and the force of Accemenla's psybeams. Every time he managed to surface, another attack forced him down—trying not to panic and fighting off the lethargy caused by the icy water, Tobias began trying to strike out for the other side in hopes that he could put himself out of Accemenla's range. As he popped up to take a breath, though, he found he was still quite within her reach.

In the confusion of being thrust underwater by psychic force, Tobias's head struck one of the jutting rocks that littered the streambed. He lost most of the air he'd gained in a pained rush, and the current grabbed at his limp body, rushing him along and running him against more stones.

He tried to struggle, but his limbs felt ghostly and oddly heavy at the same time, terribly weak whenever he could coax them to move at all. The water pushed him onwards until a great submerged tree trunk hove into view. The current slammed him up against it, its roots tangling in his coat; he tried, weakly, to rise up to the air, but could move no more than inches, and the sky was dimming even as he struggled towards it.

Accemenla leapt from her perch in order to follow Tobias's progress down the river as the trees thinned out along the stream's bank. She saw him come up and go down again several time, half-dazed and tumbled along at the water's mercy. As he washed up against an old log and grew stuck, the tarsix pulled to a halt, chuckling to herself as she sat down to wait out the boy's fate—if he showed his face above the water, it would be another psybeam for him. As she did so she toyed idly with the chunks of metal strung around her neck, her fingers running over the flattened and misshapen runes that decorated their surfaces.

With her ears full of the roar of the stream and her attention trained on the fading human struggling in the water, Accemenla never heard the hissing noise approaching her from behind. It wasn't until a wave of heat passed over her back that she started to turn around—only to meet a fire punch aimed straight at her face.


	42. Pressing On

**Chapter Forty-Two: Pressing On**

It felt a as though his legs were suffocating. And they were, in a way; beneath the water, his body's constant fire was starved of oxygen and extinguished. What parts of him remained dry blazed all the higher to compensate, turning him into a fireball with a pair of reaching arms. His tail, tip held carefully out of the water, was a roaring flare. Igneous worked his way out towards the center of the river, clinging to trunk of the fallen tree that had stopped Tobias's progress downriver.

The magmar peered into the water, trying to see through the haze of his own flames and the steam they threw up. At the far end of the trunk he found the boy, coat tangled in the old tree's roots, thin streamer of blood being teased from his head by the rushing current. Igneous took a deep breath, steeling himself and tightening his grasp around the tree trunk with his left arm, then plunged his right underwater, reaching for Tobias.

A gout of steam and bubbles obscured his view of the boy as his arm hit the water, but Igneous felt around until his hand met something soft and drifting. He grabbed hold of it, tugging firmly and without much of a plan. Something gave after a few vigorous yanks, and the comatose guide was freed. Igneous hauled him to the surface, none too gentle as the touch of the hated water compelled him to work quickly. He held Tobias at arm's length and did his best to keep the boy's head above water as he shimmied backward along the log, but it was growing ever harder to concentrate with wet cold working its way in towards his bones.

Igneous hoped the boy wasn't dead. He couldn't imagine how he would be, as it had been only minutes since he'd vanished underwater, but humans were such terribly fragile creatures. There was no point worrying about that now—what mattered was to keep the boy away from his unfettered flames, hold him only at arm's length, so that he wasn't rescued from drowning only to go up like a torch.

At last Igneous was close enough to the bank to haul the boy around and toss him most of the way onto dry land. The magmar was growing weak, even the furious roar of his fire starting to die back, but he was strong enough to hurl even a waterlogged human that short distance. The boy was light, anyway—something seemed to be wasting away about him. Igneous was glad to be rid of the burden.

For his part, the magmar would have a bit more trouble getting out of the water. His legs and lower body, so long submerged, refused to hold his weight. Igneous crawled up onto the shore, burning a long trail through the snow and trying not to stray too near Tobias. Once he'd gotten a comfortable distance away from the water, the magmar reached out with a careful claw and hooked the boy's coat again, then pulled him the rest of the way out of the river. Tobias was coughing and choking up water; still alive then, but clearly unconscious, whether from the blow to his head or near-drowning. He soon stopped gagging and fell into a steady shiver beneath his soaked garments.

For his part, Igneous lay where he was and watched bright orange lines trace their way through the dull red color that had overtaken his drowned legs. Superheated blood flushed out that deadened by the water; in a few minutes, his lower body would be ablaze again and the fire across his body would even out. A magmar could survive being submerged for a little while, but would eventually die as the waste products ordinarily burned out of their blood at the surface of their skin built up to toxic levels.

Igneous lay where he was for a moment, contemplating Tobias's unconscious form and the crumpled body of the pokémon who had cast him into the river to die. Igneous did not share Accemenla's dislike of the human. It was true that he hated to battle and did so only out of a sense of duty, the recognition that he should be doing something to earn the food and care his trainer gave him. But what the magmar hated was doing harm, and it was not as though the wild life was peaceful.

Wild pokémon fought—for mates, for territory and the resources it afforded, for whatever they could claim through strength. The battles Tobias had asked him to fight were, if not fewer, fought with the knowledge that none would end up killed or permanently injured and that swift healing usually followed for both himself and the opponent. At the end of the day, there was little harm in the sport for those who played it fairly and cared well for their pokémon. And thanks to the dreamless rest of suspension in a pokéball, Igneous found that he never had to sleep.

Usually, the magmar could tune his metabolism to some extent and control the heat of his fire. When he slept, however, all control was lost—and in the throes of a particularly violent dream, or if startled awake, there might be a great rush of fire, a sudden leap of flame—and who knew what might be lost in the blaze? In the wild, there was a need to succumb to slumber, much though Igneous might try to stave it off. But with the rest his pokéball provided, and no hope of damaging anything while he slumbered inside it, Igneous found he no longer needed to surrender control of his fire.

He sat for some time by the edge of the river, massaging feeling back into his legs and listening to the rush of the water, the hungry noise of some patient beast just waiting to swallow him up if he dared venture in again. There was no particular reason to stay. Igneous was indifferent to his trainer, distantly grateful for food and companionship, the release from sleep, but despising the violence to which he was bent. As for the boy himself, there was little Igneous could say about him; he was sad, but Igneous was not made for giving comfort—every touch burned. All the same, there was no particular reason to leave, especially not here, where he would be alone, the only one of his kind. So he would stay.

The magmar got up, taking a few slow steps to test his legs. They were warm and blazing with flames again, though still unpleasantly stiff and tingly as he set off through the snow. Some ways back he'd found the boy's bag lying near the water's edge, the tarsix's trail starting not far from it. It would do little good to rescue the boy then leave him without food or map or any of his other supplies. The magmar found the pack and dragged it back to where he'd left the comatose guide, heedless of the track it left through the snow. He knew of nothing in these wilds that would want to trifle with him, at least norhing that wouldn't be able to follow him even if he could pass invisibly above the snow like a ghost.

It was time to be off. Igneous considered for some time how he could carry both the pack and the boy, then finally laid the bag on the boy's chest and prepared to take the both of them up in his arms. It was hard to dim his flames so soon after they'd been raging at their highest, but the magmar did his best, cooling his body as much as he could before he slid his arms under Tobias and hoisted him and the bag up. Igneous could feel the boy shivering beneath his coat.

The magmar spared one last look for Accemenla, left discarded in the snow. _So you think you know me, little screech-cat? _The magmar thought sadly, shifting Tobias's weight to a more comfortable position. _Y__ou have much to learn before you can hope to understand who I __am._

Perhaps Igneous didn't care much for his trainer one way or another. That didn't mean he wouldn't defend the boy, wouldn't fight for him if asked. It wasn't a question of liking, or of honor, or even of compassion. To Igneous, it wasn't a question at all. If someone was in need, you helped them. If someone was drowning, you did what you could to save them. It was simply what one did, despite—or perhaps because of—what pain it might cause you.

There were some born with the power to do no harm, though they chose to harm anyway. Igneous was not one of these. Even now, he knew, the heat radiating off his body was slowly boiling away the water in Tobias's coat, which let off a horrid wet-dog smell. Eventually it would eat through the garment entirely and the shirt beneath; by the time they reached a place to stop, the boy's back would almost certainly be blistered and painful. But he would be alive. When your very touch could kill, you had to make do with what you could.

Igneous began to walk, following the river for a time, not thinking about much as day wore on into evening. Eventually the tarsix would awaken, though she would probably wait a while before pursuing them again. She needed time to nurse her wounds as well, after all. Igneous's deep footprints stretched out behind him, an easy path for her to follow. The magmar carried on, ignoring the ache in his arms as the sun began to sink. As the sickly-dim moon rose, he would still be awake, watching over Tobias while he slept and the night flowed on around them. It was what one did.

Tobias awoke weak and aching, with a head that felt heavy on a neck too spindly to support it. Something had died in his mouth while he was asleep—possibly his tongue, which felt swollen and immobile—and his back was throbbing for some reason. He wondered why he couldn't have a moment like the ones movie characters in Johto always seemed to have while recovering from an ordeal; not even for a moment did he think he might have died and gone to heaven.

It was sometime during the night, or at least dark, and Tobias's need to know what was going on warred with a powerful desire to close his eyes and drift off again. That he was having trouble moving was only encouraging him to give up and slide back into darkness.

Igneous was nearby, a smudge of light and heat in the corner of Tobias's eye. The magmar must have noticed his weak twitching, for the smear of fire moved closer, the heat intensified. Tobias eventually managed to turn his head enough to look up at the magmar.

"Whathh happen'd?" he slurred, once he'd managed to coax sound out of his parched, constricted throat.

Igneous looked down at him, then grumbled out an elaborate explanation, most of which Tobias didn't catch. The boy was just surprised he'd gotten any response at all; he couldn't remember the last time he'd heard the magmar utter more than a couple of syllables in a row. Most of what he managed to pick up was what he already knew, if hazily. He'd faced Accemenla and been knocked into the river. After that was where it started to get strange.

"You saved me?" Tobias croaked.

Igneous shrugged. "Magmar."

Tobias wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that. Under ordinary circumstances he would probably be elated, or at least shocked. For the moment, with a head stuffed full of cotton fluff and all the eloquence of a drunk, he couldn't manage more than a "Thanks" as he slid further into confusion.

Igneous shrugged and turned away. His footsteps didn't hiss as he stepped out of Tobias's field of vision; he must have been in this area for some time, such that he'd melted all the snow already. Tobias didn't even try to make sense of that. There was something else he desperately needed to ask before he gave up and slept. "Igneous!" he called, turning the name into little more than a loud rasp as he tried to raise his voice. The magmar did stop, though, and wait. "Do you know what happened to Jinx and Chevron? Did they show up?"

"Mar." A definite negative. Tobias slumped back to the ground? He couldn't figure it out now. Despite the panic that was starting to rise in him, he was simply too tired and too ill to puzzle anything out. Jinx and Chevron ought to have returned by now, but he could do nothing at all to help them in this state. Tobias might have thought that, anyway, if he weren't so exhausted; as it was, he slid back into unconsciousness with only the smallest twinge of guilt.

His sleep was thick and dreamless, his exhausted and aching body dragging his mind down from flights of fancy. Once or twice Tobias thought he half-woke, roused by some strange cry from the forest, light filtering through the trees or, at one point, the confused impression of a large animal snuffling at his face. These cloudy moments of semiconsciousness evaporated quickly when he awoke in earnest the next time, squinting into a cheerful late-morning sun.

There was something warm and heavy lying atop Tobias's chest. He tipped his pounding head down, squinting at it with watering eyes. It was something brown and white mottled with red... Tobias's sluggish brain at last recognized Chevron, the linoone's two front paws and wedge-shaped head resting on his chest. Though all Tobias's aches and pains were starting to make themselves known again, he had to smile at the sight.

The smile didn't last long. The red on Chevron's muzzle resolved itself into blood, and as Tobias looked down at the rest of the linoone's body, huddled next to his, he found that it was covered with wounds. Some looked like claw marks, long rakes scoring the linoone's sides, while there were what appeared to be bites amidst the thicker fur around his neck.

As Tobias began to shift, trying to sit up without disturbing Chevron, the linoone nevertheless opened his eyes to slits, letting out a small whine that made Tobias stop moving immediately. "Hey, buddy," Tobias said, trying to smile and keep the anger out of his voice. Had Accemenla done this to Chevron? This kind of physical damage hardly seemed her style, but one way or another it was probably her fault. She claimed to have "dealt" with Jinx and Chevron when she confronted him, and even if all she had done was put Chevron to sleep, that still would have left him vulnerable to any opportunistic predators roaming the foothills.

"Did Accemenla attack you, huh?" Tobias asked. He reached out to scratch the linoone's head, then thought better of it upon considering the chunks of fur that had been torn out in that area. He instead settled for working his fingers through the fur behind the linoone's ears, where it looked as though he wouldn't be aggravating any of Chevron's injuries.

Chevron didn't answer his question, just looking up at Tobias with mournful blue eyes. These flicked to the side as something dark descended from a nearby tree, kicking up a flurry of snow as it landed. Jinx turned indignant red eyes on Tobias, croaking in an accusatory manner.

"Oh, jealous, are we?" Tobias said, reaching out for the murkrow with his free hand. Jinx scooted away from his fingers, beak in the air and attitude scornful. Tobias only grinned and made a quick grab for the murkrow, dragging him back into easy reach and bundling him up under his arm. "Come here, you stupid bird."

Jinx made indignant noises but struggled only halfheartedly. As Tobias started to stroke his feathers, the murkrow settled down and tried to hide his pleasure beneath a veil of disdain. Unlike Chevron, Jinx seemed entirely unharmed, though of course Acemenla's psychic attacks would have been no good against him—unless she had thought to drop a tree limb on him, that was.

Tobias glanced towards the largest source of warmth in the area, stronger even than the winter sun. Igneous was watching the three of them from a seat next to the fire—a fire the magmar himself must have built, Tobias realized with some surprise. He stopped petting Chevron and beckoned the magmar to come over, but Igneous remained where he was and after a few seconds turned away.

Tobias let out a sigh—a small one, so as not to jostle Chevron. Well, perhaps it was for the best. It's not like Igneous could get all that close to them anyway, what with the whole "skin on fire" thing. For a second Tobias had the strange vision of himself tickling the magmar under the chin the way he might Jinx or Chevron and was forced to choke back desperate giggles. Okay, so the magmar's "look, but don't touch" aura was stronger than just the unfriendly nature of his flames.

Relieved as he was to find his friends all in one piece, albeit only just in Chevron's case, Tobias had been able to temporarily forget his own injuries, but pain was starting to creep back into his consciousness. He hurt all over, but his head was worst off of all. It felt heavy and off-balance, and every time he moved it pain blossomed across the back of his skull. Tobias left off scratching Chevron in order to engage in a careful inspection of the throbbing area; his fingers found it horribly swollen and sticky, his hair matted with congealed blood.

Tobias shooed Jinx away and carefully removed Chevron from his chest so he could lever himself up off the earth. He had to go slowly and felt dizzy all the while. His back felt terribly cold and oddly itchy; it was a wonder he'd been able to sleep at all, Tobias thought—a deathly chill seeped up from the ground underneath him and seemed to have numbed that entire side of his body. It felt as though the cold air was striking his skin directly, like his coat wasn't even there. As he twisted around to look, Tobias was treated both to a prickling of pain from his back and to the sight of tattered, blackened edges of clothing.

The back of his coat had been burned away, the shirt beneath it likewise. What he could see of his back was red and blistered. He felt around the injured area, wincing as he went. His skin was scaly and stiff, and it felt as though it was starting to flake in places, as though he had some kind of bad sunburn. Tobias looked again at where Igneous was sitting by the fire. This had to be the magmar's doing, but Tobias couldn't for the life of him figure out what it meant.

His chest, too, pained him, burning whenever he moved much. He rolled up his shirt in order to inspect the damage and found only a large welt about a handspan in diameter. Tobias stared down at the mark for a while before what it was finally came to him. Accemenla's psybeam had hit him there, the one that had toppled him into the water. Apparently he wasn't totally immune to her psychic attacks, although considering that they had snapped tree limbs without much difficulty, he was probably lucky that an allergic reaction was all he'd suffered.

If he did a more thorough inventory of his wounds, he'd probably find several other weals where psybeams had clipped him. For now, though, he was satisfied that he knew the worst of what he'd suffered, and none of his injuries required immediate attention. He was free to crawl over to his pack—had Igneous carried that here too? —and dig around in it for some food. He was famished, and surely the pokémon would want to eat as well.

Tobias pulled out a few cans of tuna and opened them up, passing one to Igneous and setting two more in front of Jinx and Chevron. Despite his throbbing head, he tried to think while he chewed the clammy fish from his own can.

Accemenla had managed to follow him somehow, and apparently she was intent on killing him. Tobias understood that she didn't like him much—he had to admit that her opinion might not be totally unjustified, at that—but she'd never shown any inclination to want to cause him direct harm before. That struck him as odd and more than a little disturbing. His team as a whole could defeat her easily enough, but if she snuck around and took them out one by one as she had earlier, it was clear she would have the upper hand.

What was more important, though, was _how _she had managed to follow him. He'd been jumping around, after all, using faint attack to travel miles at a time. If she was following on foot, she shouldn't have been able to keep up, unless perhaps she kept after him all day and night and traveled much faster than he did while walking.

She hadn't known teleport when he'd last seen her—then again, she hadn't known hypnosis, either. That at least could have kept up with his faint attack. It would have done her no good, though, unless she'd seen this area before; she couldn't teleport without knowing where she was headed. Could tarsix even learn teleport?

Tobias sighed and set his can of tuna down, then started wrestling his secondhand guidebook out of his pack. That at least was something he could look up. Even if Accemenla knew teleport, it didn't solve the puzzle entirely, though. Tobias thought that faint attack didn't leave behind any indication of where he had gone, so how would she even keep on his trail?

As he flipped through pages, Tobias grimaced. Maybe there were other people helping her somehow. She'd said that someone had sent her, or that's what he thought she'd said, anyhow. If that was the case, though, they had left the task of taking him down to her. He supposed he ought to be grateful.

Tobias found tarsix's entry in the guidebook at last and scanned down the list of known techniques. No, no teleport there, though perhaps Accemenla had managed to learn it somehow anyway. These old books weren't nearly as reliable as Johto's pokédexes when it came to minutiae about a pokémon's attacks. Idly he skimmed the rest of the information the book had about tarsix. It was nothing he didn't know already: solitary, hunted at night, preferred to confound prey with illusions rather than attack directly, would fight with claws and teeth when cornered.

_Funny, it doesn't mention anything about sadism or vanity in here, _Tobias thought wryly as he flipped to the guidebook's map and stared at it. He would have plenty of time to worry about how Accemenla was getting around later. For now, he needed to figure out where he was going to go next. The tarsix had shown that she was plenty skilled at finding him, so she'd be on his case again soon.

At the moment he was pretty much out in the middle of nowhere. There might be some little villages around here—actually, that was more likely than not—but the cartographer hadn't even bothered to mark them if so. He could send Jinx off to look for some, but he didn't feel like there was any reason to visit one at this point. His options were more or less to continue north to Snowpoint or to return to the Dark Temple.

He would be relatively safe in the Dark Temple, at least for a little while, but he would be in danger of crossing paths with Accemenla. If she really could teleport, then the mountains would prove no obstacle to her, but otherwise putting them between him and her would afford him a considerable amount of protection.

Tobias let the guidebook flop open to its central pages, then set it in front of the fire in some vain hope of drying it out a bit. He absently started pulling other damp items out of his pack and arranging them in the grassy area that Igneous had cleared so that they might benefit from the sunlight and the fire's warmth. Of course, there was no real point in going on to Snowpoint simply for the joy of travel. He would be forced to flee it again soon enough, and if something did attack him there, he wouldn't have a temple full of guides there to help him out.

There was no reason to go unless he was thinking of how close Snowpoint was to one of the World's Teeth. If he was considering one last desperate stab at the people tormenting him, then it was where he needed to go. He might not have a chance to sneak away from the Dark Temple again for quite some time, now that he knew he'd attracted at least Accemenla's attention.

Tobias eventually disgorged most of the contents of his pack. The pokémon had finished their food, and though the sun was still high in the sky, Tobias felt terribly tired. His head throbbed and his whole body ached. Serious thought was going to have to wait for later, he told himself firmly. Unrolling his bedding and changing into a shirt that was more than seventy percent intact, if rather damp, he settled down to sleep.

Chevron, left out of his chime in the interest of healing, curled up by his guide as usual. Even Jinx, resigned to the fact that Tobias was going to be boring and sleep for at least a few hours, tucked head under wing and settled into a light doze. Igneous was left awake to watch over the rest of the group, alone as usual as he quietly tended to the fire.

By the same time the next day, all that remained of the campsite for a rather ragged tarsix to find was the remains of the fire and a crop circle of clear grass burned in the middle of the snowy landscape.

Tobias still wasn't feeling entirely well three days later as he tromped over what felt like the millionth hill in the last seventy-two hours. The huge faint attack jump it had taken to cross the mountains had left him too weak and aching to travel further the first day after leaving camp, and he hadn't yet recovered either from that or from his injuries.

Journeying through the crisp, empty landscape no longer held a pleasant aura of freedom about it. The bare trees had become agents of paranoia, the stillness seeming prelude to an ambush. Chevron no longer played in the snow, instead riding injured in his chime, and even Jinx didn't stray as far as he ordinarily would.

Nevertheless, Tobias managed to forget some of his grievances as reaching the hilltop at last offered him a glimpse of the city in the distance. Smoke curled from far-off chimneys, staining the cloudy sky a deeper grey, and Tobias fancied he could just make out the great tower that was the Ice Temple, a proud spire looking down on all the smaller buildings clustered at its base.

It took him most of the rest of the day to reach Snowpoint; he didn't dare use faint attack so close to civilization, no matter how few people were about. He'd long since recalled Igneous to his pokéball, too, and the cold made the walk seem even longer. That his coat now had a gaping hole in the back, albeit one covered by his pack, didn't help. The snow was thicker here, though at this time of year the ocean surrounding the long peninsula on which Snopoint sat acted to warm the air. Tobias wandered the streets in search of the Pokémon Center, pushing through an ever-thickening fog of pain and weariness.

When at last he staggered into the large, warm building, he was thinking a little less clearly than he should. He turned over both Chevron and Jinx to the nurse in attendance, who chatted away perkily despite the fact that Tobias both looked and felt a wreck. "We don't ordinarily get many guides up here in the winter months," she said by way of conversation as she hunted for a room key. "Are you here for the Temple?"

Tobias nodded, the most energy-efficient response he could think of, and grimaced as a twinge of pain zapped through his skull. "Well, I hope you plan to take some time to recover from your trip. I guess boats don't agree with you."

"Didn't come on a boat," Tobias said without thinking, reaching out to take the key the nurse had slid onto the counter. She didn't withdraw her hand as his fingers touched it, and as he looked into her face out of surprise he found her giving him a suddenly much more attentive look.

"You didn't come on a boat? But you didn't fly here, certainly? Or come overland? At this time of year?"

Tobias looked at her dumbly, trying to marshal his sluggish thoughts to produce an excuse both clever and far from suspicious. But when he appeared to be struggling for words, the nurse simply shook her head and released the key. "Well, that explains why you look so terrible. I guess you're tougher than you look." But she watched him keenly as he made his way over to the wing of the center that housed its guest rooms, a look of intense reflection on her face.

Tobias was glad to reach the privacy of his room, where he could throw his pack down on the bed and let Igneous out to start warming up the small, stark little place. He was glad he wasn't really staying here for the whole winter—he could only imagine how cooped up he would start to feel after a few weeks in this tiny abode.

He probably wouldn't be able to evade suspicion for that long, either. He'd barely gotten in the door and already the nurse was wondering what he was up to. Tobias groaned and buried his face in the bedspread; Igneous glanced over at him from where he was building a fire in the grate. At least he could look forward to this all being over soon. Once the Shield went down, he'd be free to go as far away from here as he wished, off to somewhere where no one would have any clue who he was or think twice about his chumming around with Jinx. And hopefully the psychics of Waytar would be much too busy dealing with the intrusion of the outside world to worry about tracking him down.

That was a lot to hope for, Tobias had to admit, but it was all he had. And even if his life didn't take a sudden turn for the better after he brought down the Shield, well, he would still be a hero, wouldn't he? After all that talk about how he was a curse on everyone around him, he'd show them that he still had the choice to do good. Well, not everybody would be happy, but Tobias was confident he was in the right. The only way for Waytar to survive whatever was coming was to become involved in it.

There wasn't much time. Accemenla would catch up with him sooner rather than later—he was surprised she hadn't shown up even before he left for Snowpoint. Igneous hadn't said what had happened to her, but if she was still alive, she would be after him, he was sure. She seemed to have worked her dislike of him up into quite the vendetta.

By now Igneous had his fire started and was sitting quietly in front of it, gazing into the flames. Tobias yawned and shoved his pack onto the floor before burrowing under the covers. Tomorrow he'd make his final preparations, and the day after that, well... the day after that, he would be free. After all this time, he could finally look forward to living without being hunted.

Though he was tired, it took Tobias a long time to fall asleep. Wending through his head were visions of triumph and glory, each more impossible than the last. As he slid into slumber, visions of his family welcoming him back with open arms slid into a confused jumble of the family growlithe growing to three times their normal size and racing off after Raikou, who had been munching on the cabbages, and Accemenla grinning and presenting him with a golden necklace—for Jinx, she said, to remember her by.

Two days later, Tobias was loitering in an alley, having an argument with Jinx.

"Oh, scared, are we? Think the big bad apothecary's going to get us? Well, I don't blame you—he _is _pretty scary. I know I wouldn't want to tangle with him."

The murkrow stuck his beak in the air and edged as far away from Tobias's head as he could, until he was in danger of falling off the boy's shoulder. He was _not _going to be manipulated that way.

"Come on, I bet you can't get that stuff for me," Tobias said, prodding Jinx in the chest. The murkrow flared his wings and gave him a reproachful look. "It'd be really hard, I'll bet. Only a very, very clever pokémon would be able to do it."

Jinx burbled something noncommittal and refused to look Tobias in the face. The boy mock-sighed and shook his head. "Well, that's okay, I understand. I guess maybe I could get Chevron to do it. Yeah, I'll bet he could manage. Maybe he could dig up under..."

Jinx let out an indignant screech and gave Tobias a sidelong look of outrage. As though that oaf of a linoone could do anything right! Especially when it came to something that required as much subtlety as rescuing items from humans!

In fact, Chevron had only been released back to Tobias today. Even with the expert medical attention given to him at the Pokémon Center, he had been slow to mend. The first morning, when Tobias had gone to the counter to pick him up, the nurse had told him that Jinx was fine—in high spirits and a bit of a nuisance, actually—but that they would need extra time to work on Chevron.

"Don't worry, though," she said with a kind smile. "I know how rough it must be to hear that about your starter, but he'll be fine. He just needs a bit of extra care before he'll be ready to fight again."

Tobias was relieved the nurse had conveniently decided that Chevron must be his starter but felt rather guilty as he put on a show of being distraught over his linoone's condition. It wasn't like he didn't care about Chevron's health, but he had to wonder whether he would feel it much more acutely if it were Jinx convalescing in the center.

At a time like this, though, he had to wonder whether he wouldn't be feeling relief instead. "No? You don't think Chevron could handle it? Well then I'm stumped," Tobias said breezily. "Wherever might there be some _daring_, _courageous, loyal _pokémon who might be able to help me out?"

Jinx cackled and stretched out a wing to preen. Exasperation forced a change in Tobias's strategy. "Oh, come _on, _Jinx. It's not like you don't do this all the time. Help me out, okay? I'll let you play around with the pretty shiny chime if you do?"

Jinx gave Tobias a calculating look as he dragged a long flight feather through his beak. The new silver chime that swung from Tobias's belt was highly polished, enough so that the murkrow could see a warped version of his reflection in it. He'd managed to liberate it from the boy several times already, but Tobias always took it away again as soon as he noticed.

Jinx shrugged his wings and scuttled back and forth along Tobias's shoulder, hemming and hawing to himself as the boy wheedled. At last he stopped fidgeting and, with an air of great condescension, crowed an affirmative.

"You'll do it?" Tobias asked, unable to disguise the relief in his voice. Jinx burbled and looked smug. "Thank you, Jinx, you're the best." The murkrow was only beginning to enjoy this preeminently correct statement when the boy went plowing on, rummaging in his pockets and pulling out a small brown pouch.

"Okay, remember what I want you to look for, here. Some of the powdery stuff they sell in the little brown bottles, like I showed you, and the roots and the little star-shaped leaf things, right? And some of that liquid you can drink, too, if you have time. And drop this in there somewhere for me, okay?" He passed the pouch up into Jinx's beak, and the murkrow gave him a suspicious look as it clinked when he shook it. The boy wasn't honestly expecting him to willingly give up the bright little bits of metal humans loved to trade, was he?

Apparently he was. "Whenever you're ready," Tobias said encouragingly, then just stood looking at him with a big, stupid smile on his face. "Remember what I told you about being quiet," he added. "Oh, and-"

Jinx went, before the boy could embarrass himself any further by trying to give a murkrow advice on thievery. Honestly, the cheek!

Once the murkrow had disappeared in a brief fizz of dark energy, Tobias edged a bit closer to the mouth of the alley, leaning out from the wall so that he could look in through the shop's one large, plate-glass window. It must be reasonably prosperous, Tobias thought, to be able to afford such an extravagance, and the array of drawers behind the counter, each containing some medicine or other, was certainly impressive.

Nothing appeared to be happening at the moment. The apothecary was behind the long counter, mixing something up in a large ceramic bowl. If Jinx was really going to get what Tobias wanted, he should have appeared in the shop's back room.

Tobias wasn't comfortable with the thought of stealing the medicine he needed, not only because it was wrong but because it felt as though doing so justified people's fears about darklings, but he had no choice. He'd returned to Waytar with no local currency, and that was still his situation when he arrived in Snowpoint—it was lucky that Pokémon Centers offered free room and board.

It had taken him a whole day of straight battling to earn enough money to buy the single silver chime that now swung from his belt, and it would cost him even more to purchase all the medical supplies he wanted. His only option for making more was battling trainers, and there weren't exactly many about this time of year, unless he wanted to brave the Temple.

So here he was, skulking in an alley and, he hoped, out of sight, waiting for Jinx to return with medicine for him and the rest of Tobias's pokémon. He'd given the murkrow the remainder of his money to leave behind. It was the best he had in terms of payment and some small balm for his unhappy conscience.

Movement inside the shop. The apothecary stopped what he was working on and turned to look to the door that led into the back of the shop. Tobias sucked in a breath and drummed his fingers anxiously against the side of his leg. Surely Jinx would be able to evade capture; he wouldn't make enough noise to attract attention, would he? But the apothecary had put down his pestle and was hurrying into the back room, leaving Tobias to wait anxiously, expecting his murkrow to reappear any moment.

Jinx did come into view, but not as Tobias had expected. A small cloud of dark energy appeared over the counter, and the murkrow fluttered through, already carrying several vials clutched in his claws. He hadn't found everything he'd been looking for in the back, though, as he busily started opening the small drawers that lined the back wall of the shop.

Tobias clenched his hands, holding his breath. The apothecary would be back any second, and it didn't look as though Jinx was being terribly quiet about his business. What was he up to? Only what Tobias had asked of him, the boy realized with sinking disappointment.

Apparently whatever distraction Jinx had caused in the back was a very absorbing, and probably expensive, one—the apothecary did not reemerge before the murkrow had extracted a couple of small packets from one drawer and fished an untidy bundle of leaves from another. Jinx gave the shop one final satisfied look before vanishing into another faint attack.

This time the murkrow reappeared in the air next to Tobias, dumping the medicine he'd gathered to the slush at the boy's feet. Tobias sighed, whether from relief or exasperation he couldn't say, and bent to gather the items up while Jinx clung to his shoulder, muttering smugly about his achievement. Too easy!

Tobias stuffed the medicine into his pocket and hurried down the alley towards the street opposite the apothecary's, not having the heart to look back. Jinx had come back without his money, so hopefully he'd left it in the store; Tobias tried not to think about how much Jinx's shenanigans might have increased his debt to the man as he distractedly gave in to the murkrow's harsh demands and unhooked the silver chime from his belt, passing it up to the bird.

Jinx took the ring on the top of the chime in his beak and tilted his head crazily, trying to admire it properly despite his position on Tobias's shoulder. The boy himself did his best to remain calm as he merged back into the scant traffic on the streets of Snowpoint, heading for the coast. He had his plan, he had medicine in case things went wrong, and he had a chime. Now all he needed was a pokémon to fill it.

He reached up to stroke Jinx, who was cheerfully shaking his head to make the chime clank, faintly tugging at the essence of all the pokémon who could hear. "Hey, Jinx," he said. "That wasn't too hard, was it, getting the stuff from that shopkeeper? How would you like a real challenge?"

Jinx didn't reply, chewing contentedly on the ring at the top of the chime¸ but he was listening. Tobias smiled and tickled the murkrow's glossy feathers. "How would you like to play a little game?"


	43. Humility

**Chapter Forty-Three: Humility**

And she'd thought herself rid of stupid human children when she'd broken with the darkling. Accemenla bared her teeth, her eyes slitted against the freezing wind. That boy had been bad enough, but to be so soon serving under another—no, _dragging _another, another young, scared, hopelessly dense human child—it was untenable. This one was positively terrified of the pokémon he had been given to aid him, and Accemenla wasn't the only one that was restless under his novice hand.

She'd done her best to convince the temple master of the gravity of the situation. This was a boy who had crossed through, had seen the world beyond, and still returned. He'd lived when the temple's own agents had perished. Did they really think they could keep him—the only one with the power to bring down the Shield now living—that he would sit by and try nothing? They'd let him slink off to the Dark Temple, where his fiendish kin had no doubt filled his head with plots and wild ideas about how he might escape again, how he might let them all escape and destroy the power of the Psychic Temple.

Despite all this, he had insisted that she work together with this worthless excuse for a human, not even letting her have the revenge that she alone deserved. Even her silent appeals to the Xatu that forever watched from behind the temple master's desk, the power behind the throne, had done no good. The twins were sympathetic in a sterile way, but they offered her no better alternatives. No doubt there were machinations of their own in play here, a gamble off some half-understood glimpse of the future, but Accemenla knew that putting too much stock in the twisting corridors of foresight was a dangerous game. For seers, they were being fantastically short-sighted.

Well, even if the future was clouded for those two, Accemenla could see exactly where the fleeing darkling's path would lead him. She shifted a bit, in vain seeking some more comfortable position in the grip of her escort. No matter what she did, the pidgeot's great talons held her like iron bands, his curved claws pricking at her skin for all that he held her as gently as possible.

For all the master's talk of concern and understanding, he hadn't even lent a pokémon with teleport to the group. While she appreciated not having to knuckle under to some Temple upstart, she had to admit that a little help in the transportation department would be welcome. There were few positives to being confined in a chime, but not being exposed to the discomfort of aerial travel was one of them. She hung limp in the pidgeot's grasp, all too much like an unfortunate magikarp plucked from the water, and swung gently as it plied its way through dark.

The bird didn't like flying at night, when he could hardly see, but Accemenla had volunteered to navigate. There was no way the boy would have let her make off with the bird if he were awake to see her leave, but the pidgeot, unlike his current guide, was a Temple bird and knew who his true masters were. He had been reluctant to leave, but could not deny the urgent request of a psychic.

Accemenla watched the forest whip past beneath her, bare branches stretching up as if to snatch her from the air. She would send the bird back once she'd reached her destination, and no doubt the boy would soon follow. So timid, so uncertain, he would follow her because he knew of nowhere else to go. If she was lucky, he might even reach her before the darkling child did. If not, well, then she hardly stood much of a chance against the linoone and the murkrow together, even if they were worn out from battling the Shield's guardians.

Nevertheless, she would fight. She couldn't just sit by and let him destroy the Shield. It was her duty to stop him, even if she weren't horrified enough at the idea of what might happen if he set his plan in motion. Barring that, if it meant a chance to get her fingers around the darkling's sorry neck, she couldn't just let it pass her by.

Accemenla hung in the pidgeot's grasp, now and again toying with the metal links around her neck, and stewed in a hatred for humans in general, and stupid young boys in particular.

* * *

Some game! Jinx tipped a wing and banked hard, but wasn't fast enough to escape all of the attack. Frigid water slammed into his left wing and sent him swerving off-balance, the silver chime dangling from his claws rattling fitfully as he struggled to right himself.

Wailmer circled and spumed below, and all of them shooting at _him _of course. Why they couldn't just let the fight be between him and the calf he had singled out, he didn't know. Not that there was any way he'd admit defeat in the face of a bunch of blubbery water-dwellers, of course—but their tenacity was tiresome. If only they'd just acknowledge his superiority and let him get on with his business.

Jinx swerved around another water gun and angled towards his prey: a small specimen now floating near the center of the pod as the adults around it tried to turn aside his assault. Jinx raked across its back with his beak as he shot past, then angled up hard in a failed attempt to avoid another water gun.

The calf was panicking, too distraught to do more than bellow and thrash in the red-tinged water as the barely-seen murkrow harried it from above. Jinx's mood only worsened as he saw it starting to dive again, hoping to escape below the protective wall of the pod. Shifting one claw free of the chime, he snapped a long tendril of dark energy at the fleeing wailmer.

The pursuit stuck to the wailmer's back like a barnacle, but Jinx had only a moment to celebrate the hit before discovering its consequences. The sharp downward jerk that came as the rope of darkness pulled tight had the fortunate side-effect of pulling him out of the way of a water pulse, but as Jinx realized that the wailmer was going to keep going, dragging him underwater, he was less than grateful.

The murkrow pulled up, flapping hard; the wailmer drove down, the pursuit drawing tighter and tighter around its body only fueling its fear and causing it to redouble its efforts to escape. Jinx strained and struggled, slowly losing ground—only to be fired on from all sides at once, the force of several water guns snapping the pursuit attack and sending him tumbling up through the air, shedding feathers and curses as he went.

The wailmer had vanished below the waves, seeking safety in the deep as its brethren piled into the space it had occupied. He dove down, ducking a water gun and aiming a pursuit at the scant space between two blue-skinned sides. The attack stabbed down and snared the wailmer beneath the waves; Jinx pulled up, doing his best to avoid counterattacks on the way, and expended every effort to haul the reluctant pokémon back to the surface.

The calf was as tired as it was young. It struggled, but the pursuit was sapping its strength quickly, and Jinx was high enough up that its family's attacks couldn't reach him. He rose still higher as, slowly, the wailmer was dragged back to the surface. No sooner had its blue body begun to bulge above the surface than Jinx broke off the pursuit and shook the chime in his claw as hard as he could.

Its jangling was accompanied by the mournful bellows of the wailmer as the one he had singled out dissolved into gray mist, succumbing to the chime's call. The chime shuddered and clamored wildly as the wailmer struggled to break free, but Jinx ignored it and made for shore as quickly as he could. If the pokémon fell out again, at least it would do so away from the pod, and he could easily handle it alone.

The calf was tired, though, and too injured to fight hard. It had stilled by the time Jinx reached Tobias, who stood just above the tide line, watching the waves anxiously. Jinx angled down and landed heavily on Tobias' shoulder, the chime in his claw smacking the boy on the side of the head on the way down. The murkrow fluffed out sodden feathers, flicking saltwater into the boy's eye, and settled down to preen.

Tobias winced from the smarting blow and tried to blink the stinging saltwater from his eye. "So you got one?" He tugged gently at the chime that now lay flat against the side of his torso, but Jinx refused to let go. "Come on, Jinx, let me have it."

The murkrow burbled to himself and ignored his guide's command. Tobias smiled. "Oh, so it was a difficult battle, then? Well, at least you managed to beat the fish in the end. Good job, Jinx."

He received a red-eyed glare of indignation. _Difficult? _As though any blubbery sea-dweller could stand against a graceful demon of the sky like himself. It had been a trifling thing, a boring task carried out to shut up his guide's whining. How dare the boy insinuate that it might have been beyond his abilities?

Tobias gave a hearty tug and pulled the silver chime from the distracted murkrow's grasp. Jinx cawed in redoubled fury and tried to reach down and grab it back, but Tobias snatched it away, fending the murkrow off with one hand while he turned the chime over in the other. "Yes, yes, you were a courageous and dutiful warrior," he said, ignoring his pokémon's squawks. "Now come on, why don't we let you get rested up at the Pokémon Center, and then maybe we'll see what kind of reward there can be for a valiant pokémon like yourself."

Jinx's fussing slackened at the mention of a reward, but only a little. He would not be so easily bought! This was only further insult to his pride! This was—

Tobias offered him a bent but glinting pin he had found in the street earlier that morning, and after a moment the murkrow took it, full of disdain but not quite _that _proud. Tobias stroked Jinx while the murkrow toyed with his new shiny, telling him how brave he was. All was forgiven.

* * *

The ocean was much more intimidating at night, Tobias thought. The water stretching before him was a black abyss, watery moonlight only dusting the crests of the waves as they tumbled their way to the shore. It was a frigid night and bleak, the sky clear and, as ever, starless. Wake was just a dark shape bobbing a little ways out.

Of course, it wasn't really the ocean he was afraid of, Tobias told himself as he waded into the icy water, choking back a gasp as a particularly large wave hurled freezing droplets into his face. He'd spent most of the day trying to sleep. It hadn't been visions of breakers and chilly depths that kept him from a peaceful rest. In the regular hissing rush of the waves against the shore he heard the breath of some patient monster, the one waiting for him out there and about which he knew next to nothing.

"Hey," he said quietly, as he reached Wake and laid a hand against her rubbery side. "You think you're ready for a big swim?" She let out a little huff of air in response. According to his pokedex she was quite young, and he hadn't dared spend more than a couple of days working with her in preparation for their departure. So far she'd proven much less of a handful than his other pokémon, but they'd barely gotten to know each other; Tobias hoped he could count on her in whatever battle might come.

Getting up on the whale's back was a less than dignified affair; Tobias struggled and practically slithered up her side, then settled down cross-legged on her back and patted her uncertainly next to her blowhole. "All right, great. Let's get going, Wake. We're going to head that way, and we're looking for a big pillar of rock right out in the middle of the water. It shouldn't be too far."

The wailmer turned slightly beneath him and set off at a leisurely pace, stubby fins stroking slowly. Tobias stared out into the lapping darkness, half-wishing, half-dreading that the spire would come into view. Jinx, settled on his guide's shoulders, seemed to have caught some of Tobias's grim mood. Tobias wasn't really sure how much the murkrow really understood their mission, but it was rare for him to be so serious. Now and again he would take off and circle away into the darkness, searching.

Tobias had decided to go by night, because he figured it was the time the psychics would be least likely to respond to a break in the Shield. He'd need to use faint attack to jump from tooth to tooth, though this particular one was close enough to Snowpoint to surf. He didn't have much of a plan, but then again, the only way to come up with a better one would be to collect more information, and there was no way to do that but to set out and see what he could find.

The journey seemed to stretch on forever, though in reality it probably took less than an hour. The calm surface of the ocean provided little distraction from his thoughts, and his only company was a preoccupied wailmer, a prickly murkrow, and the sickly moon overhead. But then again, what better companions could a guide ask for than the moon and his pokémon?

A dark shape appeared on the horizon and soon grew into a towering spur as Wake, encouraged by the sight of their destination, redoubled her pace. Tobias fidgeted as they approached, shifting uncomfortably; it might just be his nerves, or imagination, but the air seemed heavier in the vicinity of the tooth, and he kept half-yawning, trying to get his ears to pop. Wake floated right up beside the spire, and Tobias had her swim around it in a slow circle as he inspected it, looking for a way in.

It wasn't long before he found one. A narrow staircase was carved into the side of the monolith, icy and treacherous in the dark. Ages of exposure had worn the steps down to a tumble of treacherous bumps.

"Take me by those stairs, okay?" Tobias said, and Wake pulled up alongside the sheer stone face, bobbing on the ocean swell. The eroded staircase disappeared beneath the waves, perhaps winding down to the very base of the spire. Tobias shrugged out of his pack and set it down behind him on Wake's back. "I'm going to be gone for a little while. I don't know how long. I'm going to leave this with you, okay?" he said. Wake rumbled something and treated him to a fine misting of water droplets as she expelled a breath from her blowhole. He thought that was an affirmative.

Gathering all his courage, Tobias rose to a crouch, then half-stood, and Jinx took flight from his shoulder. Tobias gritted his teeth and made a lunge for the staircase, getting one foot securely on the water-slicked surface of one of the steps. For a moment he remained poised like that, leaning forward, knees bent, one foot on Wake's back and one on the staircase, but the bobbing of the wailmer underneath him threatened to send him pitching forward. In one frantic motion he brought his other foot inwards and threw himself as far onto the staircase as he could, ending up pressed against the spire, one hand against its side and the other on a higher step.

There was a coughing chuckle from overhead; Tobias squinted up into the night and could just make out Jinx, perched on the tip of the spire. Well, let him laugh. Tobias was willing to look ridiculous if it meant not falling down the stairs and into the ocean. He worked his way slowly up the steps, testing each one carefully before shifting his weight onto it. One hand he kept on the side of the pillar, the other on a higher step, fingers splayed as though he hoped he'd be able to cling with them alone.

It was slow, tiring work, but he didn't fall, though the upper steps were slick with ice and he slipped more than once. By the time he reached the landing, he was aching and cramped, and his hands had long since lost all feeling in them. He shoved them deep into the pockets of his coat, clenching and unclenching them, and stared at the door. There was only a narrow seam around its edge and no sign of hinges or a handle, but to his surprise it gave slightly when he pushed against it with a shoulder. It was like pressing his hand against a piece of fabric stretched tight; the harder he pressed against it, the more it resisted. And, at the same time, the more his headache intensified. Each time he forced it open a bit more, a wave of stabbing pain rose up in his temples, and it receded just a bit whenever he let it slide shut. The faint glow that welled out around the door's edges only aggravated his headache.

He didn't know the trick to getting the thing open; maybe nobody did, anymore. But it didn't matter. He thought he knew what was holding it closed, and it couldn't stop him now. "Come on, Jinx," he called up to the murkrow. "I'm going to need your help to get in."

The murkrow fluttered down to his shoulder and peered at the door with interest. If he had any idea what was on the other side, he wasn't worried by it. Jinx spread his wings, and after only a flickering moment of darkness, they were inside.

As it turned out, the world's tooth was nearly hollow. Besides a narrow landing at the level of the doorway, it was just an empty shaft, stretching on into darkness above and below. Tobias didn't spend much time marveling at the scale of the spire, though. He was more preoccupied with the pokémon floating at its center, casting a diffuse, grayish light over this small area of the tooth's interior.

He supposed he shouldn't be surprised that they would set more than one pokémon to powering the Shield. There were eight of them, eight unown lined up in a column at the tooth's center, spelling out the word HUMILITY. Their eyes were closed, as though they slumbered, but the amount of psychic energy they were putting out was tremendous. The air was thick with it and, and itched at Tobias's lungs as he sucked it down. His headache was building rapidly; he didn't know how long he would be able to stand here, and an ordinary person wouldn't even be able to get this close to the unown.

Jinx sat quietly on Tobias's shoulder, appraising the situation. The murkrow wasn't suffering from the unown's psychic influence, but that the usually brash murkrow was hesitant to dive into an attack spoke volumes.

"Jinx," Tobias whispered, though he didn't really think that the pokémon that had been helping generate the shield for thousands of years would be awakened by a little conversation, "This is it. You've got to knock those unown out, or… I don't know, get rid of them somehow. You can do that, right?"

Jinx snorted and shot a glare out of the corner of his eye. He hopped down to the ground and walked out to the very edge of the precipice, staring up at the unown for a long moment. Then he took off, in a clamor of wings, noisier than Tobias would have expected.

He grabbed the Y unown in his beak and tried to tear it away from the others, but it didn't even budge. Jinx's momentum wrenched him around in a flailing circle, his claws scrambling for purchase alongside his beak as he tried to slow himself down. Shed feathers hung in the air around him, only imperceptibly drifting towards the ground at the epicenter of the unown's power.

Jinx managed to secure a grip on the unown and stop flapping. He folded his wings irritably and let go with his beak, muttering to himself and for all the world looking as though he wanted to take a moment off to preen. Then he stabbed his beak back into the unown's rubbery body, slashing and tearing at it with a barrage of pecks.

The unown's eye snapped open. So too did those of its companions. Tobias bit his lip as the glow around the floating pokémon intensified and began to dapple with more evident color—blue and brown and green awhirl in the air around Jinx. The murkrow's feathers were tousled as if by a high wind. His attacks only grew more insistent as the light seeping from the unknown bent back on itself, swirling into a constellation of glowing orbs that revolved slowly around their bodies. Jinx redoubled his efforts, ripping chunks from the creature's rubbery body, but there was no blood and no clear sign he was troubling his target. As one, the unown blinked, and the orbs they'd conjured shot in from all directions and slammed into Jinx.

The murkrow clung tight to the Y's tail, letting out a strangled croak. Already, more orbs were winking into being around the periphery of the group, swirling around the inside of the pillar like a swarm of synchronized fireflies. The murkrow started ripping into the Y again but, though the pokémon was obviously damaged, neither it nor its fellows seemed deterred. As the air filled with glowing balls of power, Jinx seized one of the Y's stubby horns and, with a desperate wrench of his head, tore it clean off and dropped it into the void.

It didn't go far, but only hung a few feet below the unown, caught in a web of psychic energy so strong it could practically turn the air solid. The Y itself shivered, Tobias thought, or maybe it was just his vision starting to swim—but the act of aggression would get Jinx no mercy. Again the balls of light converged on the murkrow, and this time, the attack was enough to knock him from his perch on the unown's tail.

He spun slowly through the air, scattering feathers that floated and began to spiral in towards the center of the column even as more rainbow lights appeared. Jinx managed to get himself under control and made a dive for the unown, but he was moving terribly slowly, while all around him orbs were gathering, promising another devastating punch. He was struck from behind by a yellow orb. As he tried to recover, a red orb slammed into his chin, snapping his head back, and a blue one plowed into his side. Jinx flapped and struggled, trying to push his way through the wall of dancing lights, but they batted him aside like a child's toy, and more were blinking into being every second.

"Jinx! Get out of there!" Tobias took a step forward, reaching towards the murkrow, and the psychic pressure around him increased at least threefold. It felt like his brain was pressing against the inside of his skull; if it didn't manage to burst out of his skull, then his throbbing sinuses surely would. Jinx was trying to get away now, but he couldn't outrun the orbs as they swirled together in an immense cone and slammed into him from behind, smashing him against the opposite wall.

"Jinx!" He started forward again but was brought up short by the sheer force of the unown's psychic abilities. His head felt moments from cracking open, his very thoughts on fire, and he nearly fell. He managed to catch himself but then could only stand where he was, too disoriented even to try backing away again. He shook with nausea, the edge of the landing, only half a foot away now, swimming before his eyes. The room spun, and every small movement he made throbbed pain into his temples. He could see Jinx, who had toppled to the platform on the far side of the room, gathering himself and jumping into the air again. He tried to move forward again, almost managed to go another step, and then everything was lost in a wash of rainbow lights.

_Don't!_

The force of the hidden power lifted him off his feet and hurled him back against the inside of the door. In his painfully heightened state of awareness, he could feel each individual orb as it struck. Some seared and some chilled; others hummed with black malice or crackled with stinging brightness. Then they were all drowned out by the solid crack of his body against stone.

He lay where he was for a moment, breathing ponderously. He could see Jinx, swooping at the unown while they were distracted by their new target. He managed a fly-by on the Y, drawing a sharp line of blackness across its body that was, at last, enough to knock it unconscious. The remaining unown immediately switched their attention back to the murkrow, the few curious balls of energy that had been drifting towards Tobias reversing their trajectory in a flash.

Tobias slowly tried to push himself up. At the least, getting knocked back to the edge of the chamber had reduced the psychic force pressing down on him, but now he ached all over from genuine injury. His face was smeared with something warm and wet and liquid; his nose was bleeding. He started to raise himself from the floor.

_No! Don't come for me!_

Jinx was worrying at the T now. As Tobias watched, trying to force his eyes to stay in focus, the murkrow flew straight towards it, dodging stray hidden power orbs as he went. He slammed into it beak-first, jabbing it squarely in its great central eye.

There was a flicker, and Tobias could have sworn all light in the pillar blinked out for a second, but maybe it was just his imagination. Blue-black fluid oozed out around the murkrow's beak as he tore it free of the unown's flesh, leaving a ruin of shredded tissue and inky ocular fluid where its eye had been. A scattering of orbs knocked him on his way again, and he banked wide around the perimeter of the tooth, trailing a gaggle of orbs.

_You'd only mess this up, okay? Stay back!_

Tobias fell back against the stone with a faint groan. It was getting harder for him to follow what was going on; his vision kept fading in and out, and he couldn't even tell whether he was hallucinating or really hearing a voice. He lay on his side, taking what little comfort the cold rock under him offered, and fought to stay conscious.

It had come to this, then. A guide's purpose was to bring out the greatness in their pokémon, to give them the strength to achieve their own goals. Tobias was worse than useless now, musing in a scattered way while also trying hard not to throw up. Jinx was on his own, with nothing but what Tobias had taught him in the face of his ageless enemies.

The murkrow was flitting back and forth around the pillar in little spurts of dark energy. Who'd have thought they'd be training for a time like this? If he'd known, would Tobias have taken things more seriously? How could he—really, him?—have hoped to teach the murkrow all he needed to know?

It was too late for regrets now. As the last of Tobias's thoughts trailed off into blackness, he could only watch the dim play of black feathers and burning lights across his vision and hope that what he had given would be enough.


	44. Long Night

**Chapter Forty-Four: Long Night  
**

The world resolved itself around Tobias and he was falling, falling towards undulating darkness. He pulled a chime off his belt and yelled a command, and then he was plummeting through a cloud of stinging fog as a pokémon billowed free of captivity. Instead of plunging into the ocean, he landed on something firm that bobbed beneath him. Wake let out a grunt as Tobias dropped onto her back, and the boy, though he hadn't fallen far, was struck by a jolt of pain on impact. He winced, then gritted his teeth and gently patted Wake's broad back. "Sorry about that, Wake." Jinx's penchant for dropping him from high places was getting a little old.

Tobias stretched out as much as he could on the wailmer's back and pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes. His headache wasn't going to go away anytime soon, that was for sure. After getting put through the wringer in the first pillar, he'd stayed outside and let Jinx go it alone when it came to fighting the unown. Waiting for the murkrow to reemerge was agony, but it was better than joining him and taking another beating. When it came to fighting the Shield's guardians, Tobias was nothing more than a liability.

Jinx landed next to him in a whirr of wings, and Tobias cracked his eyes open just enough to see what the murkrow was up to. Jinx was too tired for mischief and simply buried his beak in his feathers with a sigh. The murkrow was looking even more ragged than usual, his feathers hanging off him at odd angles. Tobias had been dosing him with all the healing herbs he had, but they could only do so much. They were nothing like the miracle medicines of Johto, which could make wounds and fatigue alike vanish in a flash. What Waytar had to offer could ease pain and restore some energy, but by this point Jinx was flagging at least as much as his guide.

The murkrow had grown much better at dealing with unown after that first, disastrous encounter, though. Three pillars had fallen so far. Here, somewhere in the ocean near the fourth, a slight drizzle fogged the air. Tobias forced himself to concentrate. There would be time for him to rest later—if they succeeded. "You know the drill by now, right, Wake?" he said. "We're looking for another one of those pointy rock things."

The wailmer gurgled something and set off at a leisurely float. Tobias flopped back down and tried to refrain from urging her to greater speed. How long before his meddling was noticed and reinforcements arrived? How many pillars would he have to destroy before the shield collapsed? How much longer would the night hold out? The moon was well overhead now, but he'd lost all sense of time in the endless cold waits for Jinx to return from his battles, and that wasn't even considering how long he'd been passed out in the first pillar before Jinx's gentle hand-biting had roused him.

Things had been going far better than he could have imagined, though. It certainly _felt _like an eternity before Jinx was able to defeat his opponents at each pillar, but in truth his battles couldn't have lasted more than twenty minutes or so each. Was a few hours really all it would take to undo what had stood for centuries? Tobias buried his head in his hands and wondered.

Eventually Wake snorted, and Tobias turned his head. He managed a grin as he saw a thin, dark shape rising out of the water ahead. After this, there would be two more pillars to destroy. Maybe everything really would work out in the end.

As they got closer, however, Tobias noticed something odd about the tooth. It didn't taper off to a sharp point like the ones before it. The profile of this one, faint and blurry in the dark, was lumpy and irregular near the top. Its very tip split into two protruding points. Almost like—one of the points twitched—ears…

"Oh, no," Tobias said softly, his elation collapsing in a cold heap in the pit of his stomach.

_Oh, yes, _the pillar responded smugly. _So good to see you again, Human. I trust you've been well? _Accemenla's startlinlgy large, luminous eyes flared with light. Two more sets of blue-glowing eyes flicked on in the darkness nearby.

"I don't suppose there's any chance you're going to let me get to that pillar?" Tobias asked, suddenly feeling his aches and weariness more acutely.

_You suppose correctly! Very good, Human. You've gotten so much smarter over the time we've been apart—just what have you been up to? _Pointed teeth glinted in a blue-lit smile.

Tobias ignored the usual goads. He was trying to think. No doubt Accemenla would try to stop Jinx if he sent the murkrow into the pillar alone. Somehow, he was going to have to take her out of the picture. Igneous was totally useless in this situation, though, and Wake and Chevron would have trouble reaching the tarsix with their attacks. So he was back to Jinx. Tobias gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to bury his head in his hands again. The murkrow was already injured, and he'd need all of his remaining strength to fight the unown. But did he really have any other option?

He could have Jinx whisk them off to the next pillar, of course. Would Accemenla be able to catch them somehow? How was she even here? His head throbbed, and he resisted the urge to rub at it. If they left now and came back later, if she was still here—they'd have to face her when Jinx was in even worse shape. Or maybe it wouldn't matter. Could the Shield stay up if there was only one pillar to power it?

He just didn't know, but then, he wasn't the one who was going to fight Accemenla in the first place. Jinx was really the one who should decide. Tobias turned to the murkrow, who was looking up at Accemenla without expression. "Think you can take her, Jinx?" he asked, trying to sound confident. "You don't have to fight if you don't want to." The murkrow showed no sign of either fear or surprise that Tobias had asked. Letting out a derisive caw, he spread his wings and took to the air.

_Oh? What's this, now? _Accemenla sneered. _Out for some revenge, is that it?_

Jinx didn't answer, save to accelerate. Accemenla remained where she was, unruffled. The source of her confidence was made clear as something hurtled out of the black sky above, slamming hard into Jinx.

The murkrow's cry of pain was drowned out by the predatory screech of the larger bird that had borne him down. It was only a pale blur against the gray-black night, but Tobias was sure it was a pidgeot. No other bird that big made its home in Waytar, and as it leveled off above the water he caught a glimpse of the sodden crest whipping out behind it.

Jinx slipped out of the pidgeot's claws in a cloud of blackness. It let out an enraged shriek, flexing its scorched talons as it skimmed across the tops of the waves. Jinx reappeared behind it and performed a dive bomb of his own, slamming into the back of the pidgeot's head. The larger bird wobbled, momentarily stunned, but it recovered quickly enough. Even as Jinx reached out to tear at the bird's feathers it accelerated away from him, banking swiftly and doubling back at the murkrow. A brief chase ensued, but pidgeot were renown for their flight speed, and this one easily caught its fleeing foe.

Jinx freed himself again, but the pidgeot was more prepared this time and almost managed to dodge the murkrow's reentry strike. In between urging Jinx to evade the pidgeot's increasingly furious attacks, Tobias guided Wake closer to the pillar. "Give it up, Jinx!" he yelled once he was in position. "That bird's not what's important here. Get inside the pillar and take care of the unown!"

An indignant squawk sounded across the water. Jinx objected to the idea of cutting and running, but though he might be easily offended, the murkrow wasn't stupid. The pidgeot was much larger and physically stronger than him, not to mention faster. As a distance flier it wasn't as maneuverable, but that simply wasn't enough of an advantage for the tired murkrow. He would never admit to relief over the invitation to leave, but in truth he never really hesitated.

Even as the pidgeot rocketed back in his direction, Jinx vanished into the dark plane. When he failed to reappear, Tobias felt confident that the murkrow had materialized inside the pillar as instructed.

He wasn't the only one. _What a nuisance. Actual obedience. What have you done to that bird?_

Tobias's satisfaction vanished almost instantly when, presented with no other opponent, the pidgeot turned its attention to him. Accemenla had distracted him, and it was only Wake's sudden lurch backward, which knocked him flat, that saved him from the huge raptor's talons. The wind of its powerful wingbeats stirred his hair, and the slashing claws passed just over his head as the pidgeot rocketed past. Without thinking, Tobias reached for one of the chimes on his belt.

The pidgeot ignored the peal that rang out across the water and flew straight through the cloud of fog billowing from the chime as it returned for another attack. Tobias raised his arms, trying to fend off the claws and slashing beak. The bird tore straight through Tobias's coat and left deep gouges in his arms, but for the moment his terror blunted the pain. Then the bird was knocked aside by a snarling blur of fur and teeth.

The pidgeot shrieked and tried to ascend, made clumsy by the linoone clinging to its side. Chevron was in constant motion as he attacked whatever open spot he could reach on his opponent. The assault died down a bit as the pidgeot rose, though, and Chevron became aware of just how high over the water it was taking him and decided to worry about holding on rather than dealing damage.

Tobias hardly noticed the linoone's plight. The danger was receding into the distance, and that was all he cared about for the moment. Blood dribbled down his arms, which were starting to sting as rain spattered the open wounds. Gasping, Tobias stared at the gashes which, in the dim light, were little more than blackly-glistening marks against his pale skin. When he mastered himself enough to look up, the sight that met him was hardly more welcome: Accemenla was on the move.

The tarsix was indistinct in the faint light, but it was clear enough that she was creeping down the side of the pillar. But where exactly did she intend to _go_? Tobias couldn't think—

His eyes widened. The door! Jinx! She was going to try to stop him from defeating the unown! Without thinking, Tobias plunged his hand into his pack, only to experience a sheet of pain as his entire arm protested the rough treatment. Tobias sucked in a surprised breath, then gritted his teeth and kept fumbling for the pokéball. He couldn't let Accemenla get to Jinx, and this was the only way he could think of to stop her.

Bloody fingers scrabbled inside his pack. It was so small, it _always _fell to the bottom—where _was _it? Precious seconds slid past before his fingers finally brushed against something smooth and round. Dragging the pokéball up from the depths, Tobias tossed it through the air towards the pillar. "Stop her, Igneous!"

The burst of light threw Accemenla into sharp relief, her delicate fingers and toes splayed wide and her belly pressed against the stone. The unexpected flash distracted the pidgeot, and as its head snapped around to look, Chevron slammed his own head as hard as he could into the bird's side. The pidgeot made a choking noise and listed dangerously, inspiring the linoone to give it a vicious clawing while it was stunned.

Igneous materialized on the narrow staircase winding around the pillar. Almost immediately he pressed himself back against the stone, staring into the ocean with terror on his billed face. A low hissing started up as raindrops evaporated just above his body, and the rock he clutched steamed faintly.

Accemenla halted her descent, wary of Igneous despite his distraction. Her eyes flared with power, a bolt of distortion shooting from the air in front of her face and slamming into Igneous' shoulder. The magmar's grip on the pillar slipped and his look of shock contorted into one of pain. Igneous' stubby claws dug into the rock at his back with desperate strength, and his head whipped around as he stared up at Accemenla. Upon seeing the tarsix, he let out a furious roar. The flames coating his body leapt higher, blazing with new life, and the magmar dug furrows in the stone as he flexed his claws in anticipation of a fight.

Accemenla regarded the magmar's reaction with little apparent interest. She raised one paw and began to draw it back and forth through the air, her whole body swaying in time and her eyes glowing anew. Igneous had seen this before, though, and he wasn't about to be taken in a second time. Averting his gaze, he blew out a dense cloud of gas. The waves of hypnosis became visible as they stirred the billowing smog, lit eerily from within by the glow of the magmar's body, into crazed ripples and whorls.

Accemenla broke off her hypnosis and retreated, scrabbling backwards up the pillar nearly as fast as she'd made her way down. She stayed just beyond the reach of the gas, peering into its depths at the blurred form of her opponent, waiting for a clear shot.

Meanwhile, the tide seemed to be turning in the battle between Chevron and the pidgeot. Though the bird had given the linoone a few considerable smacks with its wings and gotten in a gash or two with its beak, it simply hadn't been able to reach Chevron often enough to deal much damage. It was bleeding freely and growing fatigued beneath the linoone's weight and persistent attacks. Bloodied feathers drifted to the ocean below besides tufts of fur as the pidgeot threw its all into one final bid to dislodge its unwelcome passenger. Wings flailed and beak and talons slashed, striking at whatever part of Chevron came remotely within range.

For now, the heat was off Tobias, and he did his best to collect himself. Tugging some of his spare clothes out of his pack, he wound them around his arms, trying to staunch the bleeding. He stared around at the ongoing battles, eyes wide and straining in the dim light of Igneous' flames. Now that his terror had passed, he felt oddly distant from the fighting around him, his thoughts drowned out by the thunder of his heartbeat.

His attention was caught, abruptly, by Accemenla, who let out a sudden, piercing screech. Igneous, now half-visible as his smog cloud dissipated, was tense and bewildered, peering around for any sign of attack. The tarsix wasn't paying him any attention, though. She sidled back and forth across the pillar's face, hissing to herself all the while.

A shadow suddenly blossomed in the dim light of Igneous' flames. The misshapen cloud of darkness flapped a few times, dislodging the last shards of black clinging to its feathers, and sailed clumsily towards Tobias. Hanging from Jinx's beak was a limp, unconscious unown. With a flick of his head, the murkrow tossed the psychic-type into the night, and a small splash announced its fate.

Jinx swooped behind Tobias as the boy twisted his head around, trying to see where the unown had landed, and let out a jaunty caw. In another second, he'd vanished again. Not really sure why, Tobias found himself grinning and almost let out a laugh. At the other pillars, the unown had stayed floating after they were knocked out, held in place by some invisible force. Not sure what to do, Tobias had ended up pulling them out of the air and tossing them into the ocean, hoping that if they were scattered, they would be less likely to regroup and regenerate the Shield on their own.

This pillar had fallen, and Tobias felt a burst of hope as Jinx reappeared and tossed another fallen enemy into the sea. The feeling evaporated almost instantly, though, as Accemenla leapt from the side of the pillar, spindly fingers spread wide and claws agleam in the light of Igneous' flames. Even as the murkrow let the unown fall, the tarsix struck him from behind, claws tearing out clumps of feathers as she fought for purchase on Jinx's body. Jinx's screech of pain mingled with Accemenla's snarl, and he plummeted, wings tangled with his opponent's limbs. In a moment he'd disappeared again, though, and Accemenla was left to clutch at empty air and drop into the water.

As Accemenla's head bobbed above the waves, Igneous watched closely, his fear forgotten as he stood poised right at the edge of the staircase. The tarsix shot a half-hearted psybeam his way, but Igneous ducked it easily, and it did nothing but carve a shallow furrow along the pillar's side.

A huge splash off to Tobias's left made him tear his eyes away from the showdown at the spire—Chevron had brought the pidgeot down. The linoone was already dogpaddling back towards Tobias, but the guide was distracted by the bird. He could just make out its struggling form, and frenzied splashing mingled with terrified shrieks as the pokémon tried to keep itself afloat—and was steadily failing. He couldn't just let it drown, could he? But if he went to try and rescue it, it would probably just attack him again.

He tore his eyes away and tried to ignore the clenching of his stomach, giving Chevron a weak grin as the linoone wearily pulled himself aboard Wake's back behind his guide. Tobias reached back and stroked the linoone's head. "Thanks for that, Chevron. I know you hate water, but I couldn't think of any other way to get rid of that pidgeot. Here." He rummaged in his pack and pulled out a few restorative herbs for the linoone. Chevron gulped them down like he didn't even notice their foul taste—and, considering the noisome things he ate on a regular basis, perhaps he actually didn't.

In the meantime, Accemenla had nearly swum back to the pillar, and Igneous was holding his ground, waiting for the tarsix to come into range. The pidgeot's cries had been swallowed by the ocean, and Tobias guided Wake towards the place where it had gone down. Now that the bird was presumably unconscious, maybe he could haul it aboard and not worry about retaliation. It was, big, though, and would be waterlogged. Still, he should—

The air around Tobias shattered with a roar, and freezing water struck him with such force that he was thrown off Wake's back in an instant, the air driven from his lungs. Exposed skin stung as though it was being stripped away by the pelting droplets, and then frigid ocean stole all feeling from his body. He flailed and thrashed, too panicked to even register which way he needed to go to reach the air.

A reflexive gulp sucked in only freezing saltwater, and Tobias's desperation increased. When his clawing fingers found something solid, he didn't question it, only exerting all his energy to try and climb the mysterious object. His head broke the surface, and he gasped in a deep breath of air, only to choke on it, fall to gasping and gagging up seawater. For several seconds he could do nothing but cough and clutch his unknown savior with fingers he could no longer feel.

Slowly, he realized that it was Wake beneath him; the wailmer had dived down to reach him. Breaking out into convulsive shivers, Tobias inched his way back up towards the wailmer's head. He was so dazed that it didn't even occur to him to look for the source of the hydro pump until it made itself known.

"So, Toby." A voice, thin and young and nearly lost in the noise of the ocean, floated out of the dark. "Been awhile, hasn't it?"


	45. Destroying the World

**Author's Notes:** As you can see, the fic has lovely new cover art by Pathos ( .com). Thank you so much, Pathos!**  
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**Chapter Forty-Five: Destroying the World**

Tobias pulled himself a little farther up onto Wake's back, staring into the darkness. The clang of a chime rang over the water, and Tobias leaned forward, now genuinely straining his eyes in an attempt to spot any new threat. Nothing appeared, however, and the only sounds were the lapping of waves and pattering rain. Tobias blinked and squinted, thinking he saw something large and dark off on the far side of the pillar, but not sure if it was real or only something he'd convinced himself was there.

Who would call him Toby? It was just a nickname, something he'd gone by when he was younger, and then mostly by his family. But who from his family could possibly be out here?

No one, of course. He pushed down the niggling feeling that he recognized the voice. That was stupid. He must have made a mistake somewhere. "Who's there?" he called.

"Can't you guess?" There was a pause. "Come on, Toby, don't play games."

Something moved just beyond the light of Igneous' flames; the thing Tobias had thought he saw was drawing closer. The fire's light glinted off wet scales and threw shadows from trailing whiskers as the gyarados came forward. Riding just behind its head, hands clamped around its spiky crest, was a boy. Tobias squinted up at them, trying to puzzle out the face that took on weird shadows in the feeble glow. The boy was a little younger than him, and almost looked like-

An awful shriek and a splash, followed by a great hissing, came from the direction of the pillar. What light there was went out even as Tobias whirled to look. Fumbling in his pack, he found Igneous' pokeball and pressed its button with numbed fingertips, sending a beam of energy shooting into the water. Pillar and gyarados were obscured by a great cloud of steam, and Tobias's eyes were struggling to get used to the even-dimmer light, but he thought he saw Accemenla hauling herself out of the water now that she'd managed to dislodge Igneous from his perch.

"So?" the other boy said.

"No," Tobias replied, his insides seething with dread. "I don't know you." He didn't put Igneous' pokeball back and just held it for a minute, rolling it between his fingers.

"No?" There was another long pause. "No, I guess not. After all, I barely recognize _you_. When I knew you, you weren't a pokémon abuser. You didn't attack police or acolytes or anyone, and you didn't try to destroy the world. I didn't think you were... evil. Or crazy. You're crazy! You really think you can do this? Why? Why would you ever-"

"I'm not going to destroy the world, if that's what you heard." Tobias was growing impatient. His young accuser gulped down the rest of his sentence and regained his composure. Tobias shivered as the cold of his drenched clothes began to seep into his skin. What he'd been turning over in his mind for the past couple of weeks sounded even more stupid actually coming out of someone else's mouth-"destroy the world." How grandiose. And he was sitting here, some fourteen-year-old kid, terrified and only hoping he wasn't dying of hypothermia, "destroying the world." He tried to put it out of his mind for the moment. "And I don't abuse my pokémon either," he said, trying to keep his thoughts off Igneous.

"Really? You were going to let Pidgeot drown, weren't you? And right now, one of your own pokémon is suffering, and you don't even _notice_."

No, he definitely hadn't noticed. Tobias performed a quick mental inventory. Jinx had yet to reappear, that was true, but how would—that boy—know anything about what might be happening to him in there? Igneous was in his pokéball, and he was sitting on Wake. Tobias patted the wailmer lightly , and she gurgled something to herself. That left only Chevron, and-

Chevron had been resting on Wake's back when the hydro pump hit, and a quick check confirmed that he hadn't pulled his way back up. "Chevron? Chevron?" Tobias called, fumbling for the linoone's chime.

A faint whine sounded from over by the pillar, and Tobias hurriedly rang the chime to call the linoone back. At least Chevron had been able to keep his head above the water. Considering his injuries, on top of the hydro pump, that was as surprising as it was fortunate.

Tobias looked dumbly at the chime in his hands for a moment, then hung it back on his belt and tried to change the subject. "So? What now? Are you going to try and stop me? Are you going to try and... kill me?"

"If you won't see reason," the boy said. But there was a shake in his voice, and he looked so terribly small, tucked up behind the gyarados' spiny crown. "I'm supposed to take you back to the Psychic Temple. They're the ones who sent me, but if I'd found out where you were earlier I would have by myself."

"Why?"

A pause, then. "What do you care? You don't even remember me."

Averting his eyes, Tobias muttered, "Yeah, I guess not."

"Then 'why' doesn't really matter, does it?" the boy said. "Scyther!"

Tobias stiffened at the peal of a chime, his heart sinking. A battle was the last thing he wanted right now. This pillar was done for; there was no reason to stay and fight anymore. Until the murkrow showed up again, though, he would have to stall—and he needed light.

"Go, Igneous!" he called, and tossed the magmar's pokéball towards the pillar again. Hopefully the brief dunking he'd gotten hadn't affected him too badly.

Almost immediately the air was filled with a faint hiss and the flickering glow of Igneous' body. The magmar seized up as soon as he took shape, but relaxed and straightened as he gasped in a mouthful of air rather than water. A psybeam rocketed from above and sent him staggering forward, dangerously close to tumbling off the edge of the staircase again. He let out a squawk and flailed an arm around to grab at the pillar, the claws on his feet trying to dig into the stone beneath him.

The glow of the Igneous' body threw angular shadows across the scyther's carapace—it was crouching right behind the magmar. Fortunately, the bug had hidden its face from the pokéball's flash, and even now it was wary, not sure what to make of this fire-demon pokémon.

"Fire punch the scyther, Igneous!" Tobias called, and the magmar threw a glare up at Accemenla before turning towards the scyther. The bug peeked over the scythes it had raised to protect its face, wary but wanting a look at the creature that had seemed to emerge from a bolt of lightning, and a blazing fist connected with its face. The scyther's head snapped back and one of its feet slipped, sending it tumbling backwards down the staircase.

The bug lashed out with a scythe, jamming it a seam in the rock to arrest its fall. Igneous followed slowly; his own fall from the stairs had left him wary and unsettled. The scyther, though shocked and in pain, was quick, and hauled itself back to its feet before Igneous was within striking range. When the magmar swung out at it, the scyther leapt sideways and out over the water, wings thrumming to hold it suspended above the waves.

Some small sound alerted Igneous to trouble from above, and he glanced up, then immediately ducked aside as he saw Accemenla preparing another psybeam. The psychic bolt missed, but Scyther's blade darted out and cut across Igneous' back while he was distracted. The bug retreated again as Igneous swung around, fist ablaze. The magmar alternated between trying to punch the scyther and reaching for Accemenla, but both remained carefully out of range, Scyther moving in only when the magmar's back was turned.

"Smog!" Tobias said, at a loss for what else to try. Igneous' reach just wasn't long enough to get a hit in against his tormentors. As a cloud of gas streamed from the magmar's bill, the other boy spoke up again.

"I'll give you one more chance. Come quietly, or be prepared to face the consequences."

"There's no way I'm going back to the care of _your people," _Tobias spat, and regretted it immediately.

When the boy spoke again, his voice was sharp with rage. "Fine! Gyarados, twister!"

Tobias threw himself flat on Wake's back as the ocean around him exploded. Swirling walls of water, kicked impossibly high by waves of draconic energy, closed in around Wake and hammered at her sides.

Tobias tumbled from the wailmer's back as she was flipped into the air. His ears were filled with her surprised bellow and the hissing of the twiser, and he hit the water dazed and numb, albeit not as disoriented as the last time. Freezing dark, blacker even than the clouded sky, closed over his head as he sank. How many times had this happened to him now, he wondered, and almost had to smile.

As always, the sluggish weight of his body and the heavy pack on his back dragged him down, and this time there would be no rescue. Wake was being juggled by the twister overhead. Tobias would have to save himself, and at the moment, that just didn't feel feasible.

Maybe it was better this way. Hadn't his life only ever brought about pain and suffering? He could see that clearly now, in the face of the boy he did not know. He'd always be running or hiding, if not from the psychics, then from the knowledge of what he was: a gateway through which death forever leaked into the world. He couldn't do it, he wouldn't believe it, he wouldn't _be _that person... so he'd be no one at all.

But his body was not at all keen on drowning. It fought instinctively, and in the face of its insistence on life, Tobias's mind slowly came around to side with it. Wasn't he doing something great now? He was going to rip away the cloak of lies had closed off Waytar's sky and cemented the power of the psychics. He would prevent the region from being destroyed in a conflict it had no part in. What did he care, anyway, what they thought was good? He knew what he doing was right. He didn't care. He didn't care about all that harbinger of doom stuff; he would do good; he would find some way to make it stop. He would live.

Dreamily, he slipped out of his pack, letting the crushing weight of his entire life fall away into the perilous deep with it. He threw himself against the ocean and his chill weakness, forcing his way to the surface. All the while scattered thoughts sloshed around in his skull, not sticking to anything.

When his head broke the surface, he found that the twister had died down. Wake was floating nearby, and he called her name, ignoring how fragile his voice seemed, near consumed by the night. He was distantly aware that the other boy called out some command and the gyarados began to move, but for the moment his entire world was encompassed by trying to reach Wake.

No sooner had he hauled himself onto the wailmer's back than a huge tail came whipping down atop him, driving both him and Wake underwater. Ribs creaked and air burst out of his lungs, and his face slammed into Wake's back. But Tobias was still trapped in his airy mood and found he didn't really care. They resurfaced, Wake's buoyancy causing her to pop up like a cork, and after a moment Tobias felt something hot dribbling down his face alongside the frigid water—his nose was broken. He didn't care; he knew what he had to do now.

"Astonish, Wake," he croaked with a bloody smile, reaching out to give the wailmer a reassuring slap on the side as the gyarados stooped towards them.

A sudden burst of light made him turn. Igneous had had enough. The magmar was covered in bruises and bleeding cuts, he was tired, he was weakened, but above all, he was angry. With a roar, he raised his claws over his head and summoned a power Tobias had never seen him use before. The air around him swam with flame, a flume of fire shooting away from him in all directions. It scraped Accemenla from her perch, sending her tumbling to land at Igneous' feet. The scyther disappeared in a cloud of fire, screaming. It fell, blazing like a star, into the ocean, wings burned down to tatters.

Even as Tobias's opponent recalled his fallen Pokémon, a shape darker than the night itself appeared in the air near Tobias's head. The murkrow landed on Wake's back and looked up at Tobias with clever eyes. Snapping out of his trance, Tobias found that he, once again, had to smile. At last, things were going his way.

His elation caused him to miss the sound of another chime ringing out, but even if he had heard it, he wouldn't have been prepared for the creature that came swooping out of the night. A bat-winged shadow shot past Tobias's face, snagging Jinx in one of its crab-claws as it went by. Tobias started in fright, and no doubt Jinx wasn't pleased, either, but the murkrow had long since figured out how to get out of this kind of trap. The gliscor's pincer clacked shut on nothing as Jinx dissolved into a cloud of dark energy.

"Follow!"

And then, impossibly, the gliscor was gone, too. Neither Pokémon reappeared for several seconds—too long, Tobias thought. And then, with an abrupt tearing noise, both murkrow and gliscor returned to the material world. Their dark-streaming silhouettes sparred even as the energy that enshrouded them faded. Jinx stabbed with his beak, trying to tear the thick membranes of the gliscor's wings, but only managed to strike its carapace. The bat, meanwhile, slashed with claws and tail as it tried to land a hit on its smaller opponent.

"Water gun!" Tobias said hurriedly. "Don't hit Jinx!"

Wake turned about, carefully aligning herself with the fighting pair. Tobias was forced to lean back as a spurt of water gushed from the wailmer's blowhole, striking the gliscor in the stomach. Jinx couldn't avoid the attack entirely and was knocked aside as well, but he wasn't nearly as hurt as the gliscor.

The bat shook the attack off and turned feral red eyes on Tobias and Wake, then dove for them, pincers gaping wide. Jinx made as if to follow, but Tobias yelled, "No! Jinx, get the gyarados!" They needed to be rid of the gliscor, that much was certain—it would just follow them onto the dark plane if they tried to escape–but Wake had the best chance against it, and if the gyarados wasn't distracted, they would almost certainly lose.

The order didn't please the murkrow, but they gyarados had heard it too and let off a preemptive strike. Jinx ducked neatly beneath a hydro pump, and at that point, he had little choice but to engage with his new target. The gyarados reared back, the boy riding it letting out a series of harsh orders as he secured his grip, and Jinx forced tired wings to carry him towards the pair as fast as he was able.

Meanwhile, the gliscor's descent was met with a water gun to the face as Wake took the initiative and attacked. Screeching, the bat pokémon spun aside but kept on coming, and too late Tobias realized that its target was him, not Wake. Ninety pounds of angry pokémon crashed down atop him, and Tobias's world was suddenly a chaotic place of vicious hissing, the clicking of pincers, and the lethal swish of a stinger-tipped tail. Pain flared all across his body as the gliscor dug into him, and he fought blindly, trying to swat it away with bloodied hands.

The gyarados was having similar problems in its fight against Jinx. Its scaly neck weaved back and forth as it tried to draw a bead on the murkrow. Jinx dodged in and out, threatening the beast's eyes and skirting around its counterattacks. Blue-edged flames flickered around the gyarados' teeth, leaping higher as its rage intensified, and Jinx knew he wouldn't be able to dodge forever. Giving up all attempts at evasion, he flew straight at the gyarados' face, catching it off-guard as he seized its spiky crown between his claws. The boy sitting just behind stared at him, perplexed by the murkrow's audacity and the saucy wink Jinx threw him into the bargain.

Roaring in frustration, the gyarados bucked and twisted in an attempt to dislodge the murkrow. Jinx clung cheerfully where he was—why this was positively relaxing, even if he did get knocked about a bit! The murkrow did his best to keep his balance while the gyarados' human rider struggled just to keep his hold. Jinx listened with amusement to the boy's pleas as he spread his wings, calling up a powerful attack.

Meanwhile, Tobias, panicked and in pain, was doing the only thing he could think of, which was to pin the gliscor down. He'd managed to trap it beneath his body, at least, but the pokémon was large and powerful, and it struggled mightily. It was positioned directly over Wake's blowhole now, though, and at Tobias's shouted command the wailmer let loose with a high-pressure blast of water. Some of it soaked Tobias, who was by now too cold and wet to care, but most of the attack struck the gliscor. It screeched and thrashed as the water ate away at its craggy armor.

Tobias hung on, ignoring the pain and using his weight to hold the gliscor in place. It was fortunate all he had to do was lie sprawled on top of the pokémon; in his condition, he probably wouldn't be able to manage much else.

Finally, the gliscor's struggles weakened, pain and cold making it sluggish. After what felt like hours, it finally lay still and comatose. Tobias feebly shoved its limp body aside so it wouldn't obstruct Wake's breathing, and with a sigh of relief, the wailmer ceased her attack. Exhausted, Tobias went limp himself, draped over his beaten opponent and only barely better off.

Jinx fared better, the air around his outstretched wings twisting and warping as though alive. What little light shone from the hidden moon and stars and Igneous' body was leeched away, the sounds of wind and rain fading into the distance as the line between reality and nightmare thinned.

The gyarados stopped its thrashing, predatory eyes scanning the haze-darkened waves for any sign of attack. Nothing stood out, but a feeling of creeping fear, of being watched by something unseen, sent shivers down the spine even of the battle-hardened gyarados. The world was faintly blurred, drifting in and out of focus no matter how the gyarados squinted. It felt the air was full of unseen _things_, invisible bodies sucking away light and heat. They were reaching for it, drawn to the beating of its heart and the hot blood rushing through its veins. The gyarados could hear them—_thought_ it could hear them—so faint and distant the voices that maybe it was only a trick of the muted wind and waves.

But the gyarados had never before heard muttering in the water's motion, nor laughter muffled as though coming from behind closed door. The gyarados listened closer despite itself, straining to catch what was being said. It still wasn't sure, but it was positive now that there _were _things out there speaking, and drawing nearer, too, now reaching out to touch the gyarados, their unseen hands making its scales itch and burn. The gyarados tried to shake the feeling off, but was that a face he'd seen in the rippling air? And they were pressing in around it, suffocating it. It gasped for air and the burning cold rushed down its throat, spread throughout its body, and now they were inside it and the door was opening and it saw the faces in the fog and inside itself and_ HELLO, LIVE ONE_

Jinx let go of his perch just in time, for the gyarados dived in a blind panic, trying to escape the illusions called up by the murkrow's night shade. The huge creature vanished with a last twist of scaly coils, leaving Jinx to flutter alone above the ocean.

Meanwhile, Accemenla slowly crept up the side of the pillar opposite Igneous. The tarsix's fur was charred and patchy, and her claws slipped on the weathered, rain-slicked rock, but if anything she was more determined than ever. She made her quiet way along until she could just see Igneous around the curve of the pillar. The magmar was standing guard at the edge of the stairs, but his tail was drooping and his shoulders were slumped; the use of his new attack had drained the magmar, and prolonged exposure to the rain was taking its toll. Cautiously, Accemenla raised a hand, energy rippling around her claws as she prepared an attack. A psybeam bubbled off her fingers, leaping out to strike Igneous from behind.

The magmar grunted and staggered, but recovered before he toppled into the water. He retaliated faster than Accemenla had expected, and she had barely ducked out of the way before a cascade of fire curled over the rock in front of her, singing her claws and forcing her to hide her face. As the lava plume burned itself out, she raised her eyes again, only to see Igneous' arm reaching through the dying flames. He was fast—when had he ever been this fast, Accemenla wondered. Then again, when had she ever seen the magmar fight? Her foggy memory refused to answer.

Igneous' lunge fell just short, flame-edged claws cutting chips from the rock in front of her face. The heat radiating off the magmar's body hit Accemenla with the force of a blow, cooking the water out of her fur and searing the air in her lungs. For a moment, she was stunned, held immobile by the magmar's overwhelming presence, and then his claws stretched just a little bit farther, catching hers and tearing them off the rock. She scrambled but couldn't catch hold again.

The crushing chill of the ocean was almost welcome after the instense heat—for a couple of seconds. For a moment Accemenla simply drifted, letting the pains of her weary, scalded body be numbed away. Almost dreamily, she reached out and grabbed a small protrusion of rock and pulled herself to the surface—only to be brought up short as something around her neck caught. The strange peacefulness that had closed in over her vanished, and a few bubbles escaped her lips as she fought against the strangling thin band cutting into her neck snapped easily enough, and she rose up to gulp down a breath of air.

She clung to the side of the pillar with her head above water, enjoying a few seconds of calm as her breathing returned to normal. Then a thought struck her, and panic set in anew. Her free claws scrabbled at her neck, and, yes, it was gone—her chime, that was what had caught on the rock! The tarsix ducked back beneath the surface, her bulbous eyes quickly spotting the necklace even through the murk. Accemenla pushed off from the pillar and dove, following the rapidly-sinking glint of metal.

All else was forgotten. She couldn't lose the necklace. She'd made it herself in doing her duty to the world, crushing her prison and turning Tobias in. The Master had given it to her to, told her to keep it safe, a reminder of what she had overcome. It was a symbol of her determination, so that she would never forget...

What was she not supposed to forget? Something about the boy, whatever it was he'd done to make her mind go all foggy and shy away. Hadn't she always been the boy's prisoner, his to torment and neglect? Hadn't he made her life miserable? Hadn't he made her a slave, bound to carry out his destructive plots? Hadn't he? Hadn't he?

Hadn't he... saved the life of the slipstri and let the alakazam go free? Hadn't he carried her with him around Johto, showing her all its beauty and its horrors?

Accemenla stopped swimming. Something within her urged her to keep going, to recover the necklace at all costs. She would hold it, keep it close, treasure it and wear it always, and remember.

The necklace was sinking rapidly from sight, but it was still calling her, imploring her to rescue it. Accemenla ignored it and let herself drift, weary and confused. The deeper the necklace sank, the clearer her mind became. She gathered her thoughts, sifted through them, and found that only one thing fell out, clear and damning as the last of the haze inside her skull dispersed.

They had _used _her. They'd given her a gift, a poisoned gift, one that tampered with her most valued possession—her mind. It was true that she had no love for the boy and his murkrow, but they had sent her out to watch him, to track him, to _kill _him? Feelings of shame and betrayal swirled through her body, hot against the freezing chill of the ocean, building swiftly to anger. The call of the bespelled necklace, the meaning of the new runes etched on its metal links now made clear, faded as it finally sank out of range.

How could she have been so stupid? She had been no better than an idiot _human_! Seething, Accemenla pushed her anger with herself off onto the members of the Psychic Temple, and especially its master. She would show _them_. If her anger at Tobias was great, it would be doubly so when turned back against those who had sought to take advantage of it.

Something was stirring in the deeps. There was movement down where the necklace had disappeared. It was fast movement, too, something rocketing towards the surface. It swiftly resolved itself into the gyarados, face twisted into an even uglier snarl than normal. Accemenla's burning lungs insisted that she return to the surface, but she ignored them, hanging suspended in an enraged detachment. At first she was darkly pleased. The beast would tear apart the human and the murkrow with little trouble—not much could stop a gyarados in a temper. Probably it would destroy the boy's worthless brother, too—that she had been dispatched on the same mission as the oaf, and not been any more aware of what was going on than he, stung viciously. As though they couldn't trust her to take care of the matter by herself!

Yes, a rampaging gyarados would destroy everything in its path, and this one would surely make her life easier. She would dearly love to finish the job herself, but she had to admit that would be difficult in her present condition.

Still, though—the human was innocent enough, wasn't he? What he'd done wrong had been a result of unabashed stupidity, not malice. Did he really deserve to be torn to pieces for sins he didn't even realize he was committing?

Yes, of course. Such were the rewards of stupidity, after all. He was only getting what he deserved in the end.

All the same...

Oh, you're not honestly considering it, are you? Against that thing? For that moron?

The gyarados was still rising, slowly in comparison to Accemenla's racing thoughts, but inexorably. She could see it clearly now, the outsize jaws half-open, gills fluttering to either side of the vicious face. She could even count the thick, sharp teeth, those that hadn't been broken or lost altogether over the course of a bad-tempered life of battling. The furious eyes were focused elsewhere; she could just hang here, waiting, and it wouldn't even notice her.

The tarsix's claws clenched, her muscles tensing and her tail swishing through the water behind her. There wasn't much time. _All the gods damn you, Tobias!_

Psychic energy sent a whirl of bubbles spiraling away from her claws.

Tobias jerked half upright as the ocean nearby erupted, and immediately regretted the instinctive response as it set his injuries afire. The pain paled before what his eyes reported—the gyarados he'd thought was out of commission looking more enraged than ever. And, what was perhaps worse, Accemenla had come with it, riding on the tip of its blunt snout. Well, no—partially _within _its blunt snout.

The tarsix hissed and sent a psybeam slamming into the gyarados' face, right between the eyes. The beast shuddered, dazed, but recovered quickly enough and shook its head back and forth. The tarsix screeched as she was thrown about, the leg trapped between the gyarados' jaws twisted and shredded as her best attempts to brace herself against the shaking proved futile, her claws skittering uselessly over its slick scales. In desperation, she retaliated with a barrage of psychic attacks, but most of her psybeams flew wild, and pain made concentration on a more precise attack impossible.

At one point Tobias saw a haze of ripples go boiling up over the gyarados' head, faintly glowing—hypnosis? But the pokémon was too enraged for the sleep-inducing waves to do more than slow it down. Accemenla's attacks became weaker and more intermittent, and Tobias dared to hope that she was done for, but then the gyarados lurched sideways.

Jinx had joined the fray, slamming into the side of the beast's head, dark energy crackling around his claws. A stray psybeam looped slowly past him, but he didn't even notice. With the murkrow adding his fury to the attack, the gyarados began to flag at last. It shook its head out of irritation, rather than with the intent to cause damage, and finally opened its mouth to let out a roar of anger, allowing Accemenla to fall free. Jinx swooped to catch her, but a gush of water clipped his wing and sent him spiraling off course. Accemenla vanished under the waves, the place where she went down soon obscured by a twister.

Jinx vanished with a faint attack, avoiding the attack before it could wrap him in its coils. Tobias, too tired to be properly afraid anymore, was watching it all unfold in a frozen stupor. He started painfully as Jinx burst out into the air above him and dropped a sodden lump of fur in his lap before shooting off towards the gyarados again. Still dazed, the boy stared down at the tarsix lying crumpled in his lap, blood from her ruined leg starting to mingle with his own.

The gyardos turned to face Jinx and fired off another hydro pump, but the murkrow skimmed around it with a brief faint attack and kept on flying, the air around him twisting as he prepared a night shade. The gyarados, for all its fury, faltered—the murkrow was quite an intimidating sight, winging straight at the serpent with pitch blackness fizzing around his body and nightmares trailing from his wings. A moment later, the gyarados was roaring and thrashing in the grips of another night shade, tormented by visions only it could see. With a hopeless bellow, it turned away and dove once more beneath the waves.

The silence that descended was abrupt and uneasy. Igneous was pressed up against the pillar, molten rock slowly dripping from the point of contact, as though hoping it would somehow shelter him from the rain. Accemenla was unresponsive, not even shivering, in his lap; Wake and the gliscor alike were quiet beneath him. Jinx came in for a landing next to Tobias, shaking a bit of water from his wings in a gesture of futility. Aside from the pattering of the rain, the only noise was a faint whimpering coming from somewhere near Tobias.

Tobias turned weakly around, more in resignation than out of curiosity. In the dimness, it took him a few moments to recognize what he was seeing. When he had, though, a flash of anger temporarily washed away his pain and fatigue.

The boy, the gyarados' boy, was clinging to one of Wake's fins, bobbing gently in time with the wailmer. He was shivering from the cold and, probably, from fear as well; night shade was an awful attack for a battle-trained gyarados, and certainly even worse for a human child. At the moment, though, Tobias wasn't feeling terribly sympathetic.

Reaching down, he hauled the other boy up by his sodden collar. "Well?" Tobias growled. "What exactly did you think you were trying to do, there?"

The other boy only shook his head.

"You didn't really think I was going to help you out after all that, did you? I mean, I'm evil and all, right? So what did you honestly expect?"

"Listen... Toby..."

"Shut up, _Kevin_! You tried to kill me! Are you really that surprised that I want to return the favor? Are you really surprised that I don't care what happens to you anymore?"

Kevin's shivering grew more violent, until Tobias realized it was just his own arm starting to shake. "You're never going to leave me alone, are you?" he asked, cutting off anything Kevin might have been about to say. "Maybe I should get rid of you right now so you won't be able to follow me anymore. And that's what you want anyway, isn't it? You need some justification for your little prejudices."

He leaned a bit out over the open water, strained muscles protesting and Wake doing likewise.

"Wait—no-" Kevin choked, grabbing onto Tobias's arm.

Head feeling oddly foggy, as though he were viewing the scene from a great distance. Tobias heard himself say, "So here's your justification."

His muscles tensed, preparing to hurl the boy as far away from him as possible. Once he did, he'd call for Jinx, and they would be gone before the boy had a chance to resurface. There would be no help for him, unless he could find the gyarados and convince it to aid him once again. Tobias wasn't even really thinking about the consequences, though. All his thoughts were focused on that feeling of anticipation, of being about to take action at last. The night was no more than a wet darkness off in the distance, Kevin's face a pale smear with a hole in it, a mouth that spewed pleas Tobias could no longer hear.

Above the stinging of his wounds, a new, sharp pain brought Tobias out of his trance. Talons dug into his arm; a hooked beak hovered inches from his face. In the fading glow if Igneous' body, the murkrow's eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Listen," the bird said, and Tobias couldn't help but obey. For some reason it didn't seem odd to him that the murkrow was talking and he could understand every word. "I don't really care, but you shouldn't do that. I don't know why humans care about family, but they do, and if you do this now, you'll regret it later. I'm not worried about your feelings or anything, but when you're sad, you never pay any attention to me. So don't do it."

"Don't do it?" Tobias yelled. "Don't you understand? He's one of them! He's the reason I have to run! Don't you want to stop running? Don't you want to go home again?"

Jinx was disapproving. "I don't know why _you're _running away from them all the time. I'm certainly not afraid of them! I'm not. I don't care. I just find the psychics so irritating to be around. Snobby! Rude! But I'm not scared—are you?"

Tobias's grip tightened on Kevin's collar, cold-numbed body not even noticing the extra strain. The boy himself was limp and quiet, perhaps out of fear, perhaps from simple exhaustion. "What do you know?" Tobias growled. "You said yourself you don't understand things like this! You're just a pokémon!"

Jinx's crest rose angrily, and he puffed out his feathers to make himself larger. "I? What do I know? What do _you _know? You're only a human! You don't know how to fly, or how to walk through shadows, or even how to fight! You don't know how to take a shiny right out from under the nose of a guide, or talk a paras into giving you his mushrooms. You don't even know where the dark comes from, or why! What do you know, human?"

Tobias glared at Jinx, probably angrier at the murkrow than he had ever been in his life. "So if you know so much, can you tell me how to end all this, huh? Can you tell me how to go back to the way things were before? Can you tell me what to do?"

The mukrow turned his back on Tobias, flouncing his wings and sticking his beak in the air. "Stupid questions! I don't care. So let him die, then."

"I don't care either, so I _won't_!" Tobias hauled on Kevin's shirt, dragging the boy out of the water and onto Wake's back. The both of them were shivering with cold and fatigue and pain. Rain-slicked, in the semi-darkness, the difference in age between them was erased and, for a moment, they looked almost identical.

One of them, though, had miles yet to go tonight. Three of the pillars had fallen. Three remained.

"Do you think you're up for another fight, Jinx?" Tobias asked with a weak smile. His consuming rage had vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving him sagging beneath the weight of his old body. Kevin curled in on himself and scooted as far away as possible, watching with wide eyes as his brother, covered in blood, sitting on a gliscor, cradling a catatonic tarsix in his lap, carried on a one-sided conversation with his murkrow. Fortunately, neither of them was paying attention to the other boy at the moment.

"Ready? Of course I'm ready!" The murkrow spread wings that had clumps of feathers torn out, hiding his wince. "This fight was easy! I was just toying with them! Show them all to me, as many as there are, and I'll take them all down!"

Tobias's grin strengthened, and he carefully stroked the murkrow's chest feathers, causing the bird's eyes to go unfocused and his body to droop. The dark was waning. There was much work still to do.


	46. Sunrise

It's been almost eight years now since I uploaded the first chapter of _Clouded Sky_, and I'm pleased today to finally upload the last. It's been a crazy ride, and I'd like to thank all the people who've supported me along the way, whether by reviewing, commiserating, or simply reading. The feedback I've gotten along the way has been amazing, and I've learned an incredible amount over the course of working on this story.

Unfortunately, when I was initially planning this story, I had envisioned it as part of a quartet of 'fics, the first of which was _The Ninetales' Curse_. About a decade later, though, I'm no longer really interested in writing the other installments. This means that there are questions raised in _Clouded Sky _that were never intended to be answered in the course of this story, and they will remain unresolved at the end of this chapter. I've therefore added one additional chapter after this one that contains "end notes" that clears up some of the lingering issues. However, this chapter is where Tobias's story ends, and if you'd prefer to leave it as it is, you'll want to stop reading with the epilogue.

One way or another, if you reach the end of this and find yourself really confused, it may help to reread chapter nineteen.

I'm not done writing sprawling chapterfics, probably against my better judgment, and I'll be starting in on the next one in about a week—and doing everything I can to make sure it gets posted in a much more reasonable span of time. I hope to see you over there, but if this is where we part ways, I wish you all the best. Thank you for reading.

**Epilogue: Sunrise**

The sun rose over Waytar, an angry bright disc that seared away the last of the psychic energy that had once blocked its rays. Inch by sure inch, light swept over the region, dawn staining mountain snowcaps red and sparkling off ocean waves. Sound sleepers woke in a delirium, unable to make sense of the glare that had invaded their dreams. Children laughed and cavorted in a world grown suddenly warmer, all its colors brighter and the sky a deep, deep blue, until parents roused themselves, called them inside, taught them to be afraid.

The sun came soon to Saltmarsh, to the grand tower that kept watch over the city. It knifed through the window and fell onto the face of the Temple Master, asleep at his desk with a faint smile on his face. He'd been working late again, but it was this that made him happy: his workload was a symptom of a bustling and prosperous region, one that looked to him for guidance.

And at the moment, things were running smoothly in the Psychic Temple. The dark of winter was coming on, but it had been a good harvest year, and he anticipated no problems. The darkling boy had been chased into exile, and he was being watched on the off-chance that he escaped. Reports from the outer world indicated that it was sliding further into chaos, no doubt to be followed by complete destruction. He was confident that Waytar would endure as it had before, a haven for the finest human and pokemon alike.

Behind the Master's chair, the xatu twins slumbered, wings tucked neatly to their sides. Only in sleep, dreamless repose, could they at last escape the eternal torment of images, past and present and futures all in a tangle, that forever roared through their capable brains. All their schemes were suspended, their endless analysis and adjustment and laid to rest. For now, they were at peace.

But the three of them would be woken, soon enough. There had been mutterings, not long before daybreak, from those few awake and attuned to the power of the Shield. There was the sense that something had gone wrong, dreadfully wrong, although what, exactly—no, what they thought it was had to be impossible. The sun's anger had confirmed their worst fears, and even now the Tower was stirring under its masters—whether they would be awoken by hammering on their door or by the blazing sun on their faces, they hadn't much longer to slumber. And when they opened their eyes, it would be to look on a world that had changed beyond their darkest nightmares.

Sunrise spilled over onto Waytar's western shore nearly an hour later. Tobias had washed up here after the fifth pillar had fallen and the Shield had gone dead. He had been surprised that he could feel it, when it happened—it was like there had been an annoying tone in his ears, one that would catch his attention every now and again until he convinced himself he couldn't really hear it, and now it was finally gone. There was silence, and in the silence he could rest.

He was sitting now on some island in the south of Waytar, astonished at how fast he'd gone from dull shivering in the rain to sweltering in the humidity. Jinx slumbered on his head and Chevron rested at his side atop his discarded coat. Tobias felt like he'd gone all the way past exhaustion and come out the other side. His eyes were burning, his wounds stung, but he was a bundle of nerves and impatience. But now that the sun was starting to stain the waters to the east, the sky shading to bruised purple and then to lighter blue, he knew he'd done it. The Shield had fallen, and he, Tobias, had made it happen.

Or, well, Jinx had, mostly. But as far as he knew he was the only person on earth who could get the murkrow to do anything that didn't involve the acquisition of treasure, so it still counted. "Hey." He reached up to give the murkrow a gentle poke, then jerked his hand back before it could get bitten. "Look at that, Jinx. We did it. We won."

The murkrow let out a raspy grumble. Why couldn't victory be less bright? Chevron stirred, raising his head for a moment, then laid it back down by his paws. He sighed into the sand and was asleep almost immediately. Tobias smiled to himself and leaned back against the palm's shaggy trunk. If he was going to have to enjoy the moment by himself, well, that was exactly what he'd do.

He watched the sun climb, and climb still higher; probably he dozed, for when he next came to himself, he was stiff and aching, his tongue thick and fuzzy in his mouth and his eyes grainy. He groaned and slowly got to his feet, joints popping and injuries protesting in concert with Jinx, who did not appreciate being disturbed. Then he went shambling off across the beach to walk out some of the stiffness.

Tobias was happier than he had been in a long time in a diffuse, unfocused way. It was like the sun was burning out all the things that had been festering in the pit of his brain. His work was done. He'd proved himself a hero after all. He hadn't thought much about what would come next, and he was going to keep that up for as long as possible.

He couldn't go home, that much was for sure. This was one realization that marred his victory, a lurking pain like a toothache he was being careful not to irritate. He and Kevin hadn't exactly gotten much chance to talk; his brother had been fairly incoherent after their encounter, and Tobias not much better himself. He'd had Wake ferry Kevin and Igneous over to the shore and told them they were free to go. On a whim, he'd left Accemenla with them as well, shoving her into Kevin's arms and telling him to look after her. So now here he was, light, the shadows of his past cast off.

But in the end, it had worked out for everyone, hadn't it? Accemenla had her freedom—from him above all else, and in turn he finally had freedom from her. Even if she decided she wanted to hunt him down again, she'd have the whole world to search and, he thought, too much on her mind to have time for old revenge. She'd been his enemy to the end, but Tobias was holding no grudges. He wished her the best—somewhere far, far away.

Igneous had his freedom, too, in more ways than one. His pokeball was still in Tobias's pack, and that was sitting at the bottom of the ocean. The magmar would never be trapped there again, and as long as it remained, he could never be captured by another, either. He hadn't made any protest when Tobias had left him there at his brother's side; protest had never been his style. And if the look he'd given Tobias was sad—did he ever look any other way?

Then there was Kevin himself. The thought of his brother, now, was uncomfortable. What he'd said about the rest of the family—Tobias didn't know. What could he trust? His own brother been turned against him. He wouldn't be welcome if he tried to go back. But what had brought his family into contact with the Psychic Temple in the first place? Where were they now? He shied away from probing too deeply, afraid that the answers he came up with would pull him down into another bleak quest. He'd have to go back, someday. Probably someday soon, even, but not just yet. He'd earned a rest from heartache and despair. Whatever he found on the old farm, he somehow doubted it would be comforting. And until then, at least Kevin was free and safe enough.

So they were all free of him, finally, just as they'd wished. Everyone got what they wanted. He'd changed the world, and everything had worked out just like it was supposed to.

Jinx was fussing about on his head and, when it finally became clear that Tobias had no intention of sitting down again and letting him rest, the murkrow took flight with an irritable caw, landing on the sand a few feet away.

Tobias grinned at him. "Going to start talking again?" he asked. They were close enough for that now, he supposed. The murkrow huffed and turned tail on him, muttering irritably. Wasn't he always talking? It was a certain other person who didn't listen!

"Oh, all right. Well, I guess you don't have an opinion on where we go next, do you?"

Even if Tobias hadn't known the answer before asking, it would be impossible to mistake what the small flare of the wings meant: "Don't care."

"Works for me," Tobias said, still afflicted with that crazed lightness that made him grin through all his pain. The world would crash down on him again, soon enough, remind him that he wasn't invincible. He had no money, no food, and no real idea where he was; he was going to need a lot of rest and care until his wounds healed. But he had his friends, and he had his victory. For the moment, anything was possible.

He glanced over his shoulder to find Chevron awake if groggy, stretching and blinking into the midmorning light. "Come on, you two. Let's see what we can find!" He gathered all his lightheaded energy and broke into a staggering run for the palm-shaded forest, not looking back once. He knew they'd be following.

The sun rose, too, over the Dark Forest, dropping dusty bars of light to a forest floor it hadn't touched in centuries. In its wake there was a general rustle, a shivering of the leaves, as the spirits of the place shrank deeper into shadow, appalled by the burning glare that few could even remember.

They wouldn't cower for long. The sun might sear them, but it was more a blessing than a curse. The Shield had fallen at last—it was a triumph, if not precisely by their own hand. But it also meant that there was much work to be done.

Around noon on that first bright day, Damien Darksand was standing outside the Dark Temple, not even shaded by a solitary tree, and looking up at the sky. It was uncomfortable to be out here, with the light trying to shake him apart, tear him molecule from molecule and fling him back into the dark. But the worst of its anger was shielded by flesh, and he was a strong soul. He could stand here and enjoy the envy he knew was emanating from the ones lurking in the shade, who couldn't do the same.

He wasn't alone for long. "Aelis! Was that really necessary? Look, you nearly ruined this eye." He turned, though he didn't really need to, not to know who it was, anyway. It was funny how the habits of the flesh crept up on you. Master Windriver was there, picking bone chips out of her hair with hands stained by her own blood. He considered without comment the split down her skull, which exposed the white of bone, slick membranes veined with red, and a spattering of gray. It did indeed pass close to her left eye, which glinted purple for a moment, then dulled.

"Sorry. I got a bit carried away. The old coot was tough as nails—I had to get a bit drastic."

Master Windriver made a bubbling noise of disgust and carelessly wiped her hands on robes already streaked with gore. "The business is done, then, I take it?" Aelis asked, impatient. The spirit wearing Master Windriver's body, Thenalis, spoke with the human's voice, but in life she never would have used such a whining, servile tone. He didn't like the way she was out here, either, standing in the sun as though she didn't feel anything. She was bluffing, of course—no ghost was entirely comfortable in the light-but she was still too powerful, and he didn't trust her moaning and scraping one bit.

"Yes, it's done. The riffraff are gone, or fled. I imagine we'll be seeing a few more of our kind out here soon enough. Most of them were able to find a body to take."

"Any casualties?"

"A few. No spirits of any consequence. There were some that tried to protect the live ones, who just couldn't _bear _to lose their precious 'friends.' All dealt with, of course."

"Of course." He was looking back up at the sun now, and took a deep breath, just for the novelty of it. It whistled faintly through the gash across his neck. He was trying a smile, too, though he'd never been so good with manipulating all the delicate facial muscles—a real failing in a spirit as powerful as him, and one he did his best to hide.

Behind him, he could feel impatience building. "So your little gamble paid off, I guess," Thenalis said, finally.

"Of course. Humans are so easy to manipulate, after all."

"Tch. And to kill. If they were more concerned with staying alive instead of making something of their lives, perhaps they'd last longer."

"But it's not as though I wasn't generous," Aelis went on, ignoring her. "After all, removing the Shield was really to our _mutual _benefit. We get our freedom, and he gets his." This time he shared his grin with Thenalis, revealing eroded gums and brown-stained teeth. This body had served him well, but it was getting old. He was content to stay with it for now and let the fresh kills go to the lesser spirits, the ones who had never had his vision and who, without him, would have been content to hunker in their little forest until the end of time. After all, there would soon be many, many corpses for the taking.

Thenalis smiled back at him, hideously lopsided. Maybe he _had _damaged that body a bit too much. Purple light flared in her dead eyes as the spirit within peered out. "Oh, shall we remember him in tale and song, then? The little human who released all Waytar from its chains? The one who freed the dead to walk the world again?"

"Oh, I don't know that we need to go _that _far. Certainly not now. After all these centuries, I'm not going to wait another day to be away from here. Save your canonizing for later. For now, go round up the rest and have them out here within the hour. If they haven't figured out how to walk yet, leave them. If they can't stand the sun, leave them. They'll grow stronger and catch up, or they'll be left behind. Those of us that can travel, must." He turned his eyes to the horizon, off over the sea of grass and wildflowers. "They've been waiting for us."


	47. Postface

**Postface**

As I mentioned in the epilogue's author's notes, _Clouded Sky _was supposed to be part of a series of 'fics set in the same universe and part of the same overarching plot. There were to be three relatively stand-alone stories focusing on characters who happened to witness or be involved in one of the major events leading up to the last 'fic, which would be very long and finally resolve all hanging plot threads. As that final 'fic is probably never going to get written, and _Clouded Sky _ended up having a significant amount of content that doesn't get followed through on, I've collected some notes here that I hope will bring some closure to the unresolved issues.

First, with regards to Johto, Raikou, and the skarmory: the legendary wars that first led to the creation of Waytar is about to go in for a redux. What actually caused the legendaries to cease fighting the last time was the creation of a new legendary (a fakemon), one that was able to permanently kill other legendaries. The legendaries that had previously fought one another formed an alliance and managed to seal this new legendary away in another fanregion of mine that was to be the setting for the final 'fic. Afterwards, they were left exhausted and, in many cases, badly injured, their armies broken. They were forced into retreat, and since then an at-times-uneasy peace has held between them.

However, at the time that _The Ninetales' Curse _takes place (about a year before _Clouded Sky_), the seals placed on the legendary are beginning to weaken, and its influence is extending into the world once more. A further invention of mine is that each legendary has one or two species of pokemon for which it has a particular affinity, and which formed the majority of their troops during the war. For my fakemon legendary, this is skarmory, and as a result of its growing wakefulness, their reproductive rates have gone up dramatically, resulting in their increased aggression and expansion into unfamiliar habitats. The influence of the bound legendary has also awakened a particular hatred of the other legendaries in them, and they've made many attempts, some successful, to murder various legendaries in recent times. Death of any individual body is only an inconvenience to a legendary, as it can exist in several in once and create a new one without much difficulty, but it takes a long time for a new incarnation to reach its full power, so it is a fairly serious inconvenience at that.

For their part, the legendaries are fully aware of what's going on and have been raising their own armies, further throwing the ecological balance into flux. They've begun working together again, seeking a more permanent solution to the problem of the bound legendary, and the final 'fic in the series would have explored how that played out during the outbreak of the next legendary war.

Next, the ghosts. The ability of ghosts to create soulless puppets out of pokemon by manipulating their pokeballs in a certain way was introduced in _The Ninetales' Curse_. The implications of this ability are not made clear there, however.

There is a radical, but fairly large, group of ghosts that hate the living and want to eradicate them completely. Most ghosts are souls that strongly resisted passing on, back to the dark plane they were born from, but they often discover that unlife is actually pretty crappy. Although they can still interact with the world to some extent, they are no longer truly a part of it; they always have at least one foot firmly in the ghost plane. They have lost the ability to enjoy much of what makes life worth living; they have a limited ability to feel anything, sunlight burns them, and they often find themselves cast into the shadows of the living, simply watching as the world goes by. A ghost's existence is made still grimmer by the fact that in order to increase in power it has to devour other ghosts or leach energy from the living. A ghost therefore has the choice of remaining fairly weak and barely able to manifest in the world, or prey upon others. One way or another, it must always fear annihilation by more powerful spirits.

As a result of these conditions, and the fact that they persist indefinitely unless absorbed by another spirit or banished, many ghosts develop a deep jealousy of the living, which tends to transform into a desire to eliminate them. Also as a result of their potentially long unlife spans, there are some particularly powerful ghosts who still remember the legendary wars and who can recognize the signs that another is approaching. They plan to strike during the chaos of the new conflict, when the living are already perishing in droves, and make an attempt at annihilating them completely—or at least causing as much mayhem as possible.

Because there are few ghosts relative to living humans and pokemon, they use their ability to enslave soulless pokemon to create their own army, after a group of rotom sabotage the pokemon storage network and create soul-split pokemon on a large scale. While this leaves the ghosts with a fair amount of power at their disposal, perhaps their most valuable assets are the polphades, natives of Waytar and the only kind of ghost pokemon that can possess and manipulate inanimate objects. Over the course of the war, they primarily use this ability to reanimate corpses and infiltrate communities of humans and pokemon, gathering information and sowing seeds of panic and discord within the ranks of the living. There are few of them—thankfully—but they have an outsized impact on the course of the conflict.

It is a polphades, Aelis, that manipulates Tobias into destroying the Shield, thereby enabling him and his kind to join their fellow souls in the war against the living. The ghost had taken over the body of Damien Darksand, who wandered too deep into the Dark Forest. Upon the removal of the shield, his faction, which consisted of most of the ghosts in the area, murdered the majority of the Dark Temple's inhabitants and took their bodies as cover, then left the region and went to join their fellow ghosts in Lavender Town, the seat of their power.

So, that's what's going on in the background of Tobias's adventure. I apologize for leaving it hanging as it is, and take it from me—if you're fifteen and think committing to multiple gigantic 'fics is an awesome idea, you're _probably _going to be really unhappy with yourself in the future! As a final note, because this story was supposed to connect with the others in the series, it actually contains several references to _The Ninetales' Curse _and to the other, not-to-be-released 'fics in the series, mostly in the Johto arc. Perhaps you'll be able to spot them, now that you know they're there.


End file.
